After a one-year hiatus, the El Gouna International Film Festival administration announced, in a statement on its official Facebook page, the date of the sixth session, to be held from October 13 to October 20, 2023.
The news sparked a wide resonance among the cinematic circles, celebrating the return of the Egyptian festival, which stopped suddenly after years of success without explaining the reasons.
Administrative change
The statement revealed a change in the management of the festival, as Amr Mansi assumed the role of executive director, succeeding Amal Al-Masry, who held the position for two years, while the Iraqi filmmaker Intishal Al-Tamimi remains the director of the festival.
And the statement stated that the selection of Amr Mansi "comes in conjunction with the festival's establishment of its vision for the coming years to provide a creatively fruitful experience, and to support the development of the film industry in the region."
"The short hiatus allowed the festival's management to reconsider the technical and organizational aspects of the festival, and to focus on the pivotal role of the festival, which it played in its previous sessions, through its contribution to the development of the film industry regionally and globally," the statement added.
Al-Tamimi said in the statement, "After 5 successful editions, we wanted some time to re-evaluate the program, explore all possible options and think about what drives the festival forward. Now we return full of energy and inspiration to play our role in the development of the film industry."
The administrative change comes after the differences that took place in the festival and were revealed in the last year after the withdrawal of the artistic director of the festival, director Amir Ramses, and then the withdrawal of the actress, Bushra Raza, who is one of the festival’s founders and the director of operations as well, due to quarrels and disagreements with the festival’s director, Inshal Al-Tamimi.
Years of attack and sudden stop
The El Gouna Festival had started since its first session in 2017 with a strong start, to compete with the Cairo International Film Festival, both at the level of the films shown, which are selected from international festivals such as Cannes, Berlin and Venice, and also by attracting stars at the local and international levels as well, as its sessions witnessed the presence of stars. Seniors such as Adel Imam, who was honored at the opening of the first session, in his first appearance in the activities of a film festival after his absence for years from attending artistic events and being satisfied with his work at that time, director Dawood Abdel-Sayed and scenery designer Onsi Abu Seif were also honored.
The festival also witnessed the presence of international stars, as the famous American star Gerard Butler attended the first session, and international names also included Sylvester Stallone, American actor Owen Wilson, and the famous Hollywood star, Forest Whitaker.
The El Gouna Convention and Culture Center fire, hours before the opening ceremony in 2021 (Reuters)
However, the fifth session, which was held in 2021, witnessed many crises, the first of which was a fire at the El Gouna Convention and Culture Center hours before the opening ceremony, in addition to the resignation of artistic director Amir Ramses hours before the closing ceremony, and the widespread criticism of the Egyptian movie “feathers”. In the Feature Film Competition.
A few months later, the festival management announced its cessation without announcing the date of the next session, which led to speculation about the end of the festival's fate, similar to the experiences of other Arab festivals such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi.