Safe Exit Wins Top Prize as CineGouna Expands at El Gouna

By Marcus Bennett

More than 320 projects applied to CineGouna Funding at Egypt’s ninth El Gouna Film Festival, where Mohammed Hammad’s “Safe Exit” won the top film prize. The festival closed Friday after nine days of screenings and industry activity.

El Gouna’s Golden Star for best narrative feature went to the psychological drama. It follows a young Coptic security guard in Cairo confronting trauma rooted in religious violence.

Ahmed Hassouna’s “Citizen Osama” won both the Golden Star for documentary and best Arab documentary. It follows a Gaza photojournalist balancing work with family life amid war. Hassouna remains in Gaza, giving the double win a direct connection to the conditions confronting filmmakers in the region.

What did the ninth edition reward?

Anders Davidsen’s “Stolen Memories” won the Golden Star for short film. The discovery of childhood photographs leads an 18-year-old to question his past.

Rakan Mayasi’s “Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep,” set in the Bekaa Valley, won best Arab narrative. Marie Rose Ousta’s “One Day Born” won best Arab short. It follows an 11-year-old boy living under the constant threat of warplanes in Lebanon.

Jordan’s Rakeen Saad won best actress for Zaid Abu Hamdan’s “Boomah.” Jovan Ginić took best actor for Miroslav Terzić’s “3 Weeks After.”

El Gouna’s top prizes spread across the Middle East and beyond. By the ninth edition, CineGouna was becoming as central to the festival’s identity as the films it screens.

What does CineGouna change for Egyptian filmmakers?

CineGouna Funding selected 19 projects, which received more than $350,000 across 40 awards. Participants held more than 140 one-on-one meetings with companies, institutions and international festivals.

“We want the industry to be our hero,” El Gouna co-founder and executive director Amr Mansi said ahead of the festival.

The platform now includes:

• Funding, the project-finance strand.
• Forum, a program of panels, masterclasses and industry discussions.
• Market, which connects filmmakers with companies and institutions.
• Emerge, the initiative for young and emerging talent.
• Egyptian Voices, a development program for Egyptian filmmakers.
• Series, the inaugural lab for Arab television projects.

For an Egyptian filmmaker, the practical change is access to project finance, one-on-one meetings, development programs, masterclasses and institutional partners within one festival structure.

Can Arab television widen its development pipeline?

CineGouna’s expansion into television exposed a bottleneck across Arab television. The region has abundant talent, but too few opportunities to develop and sell new shows.

Veteran Egyptian screenwriter and producer Mariam Naoum, who led the six-week CineGouna Series lab, said the region has “great, great talents” but only “three or four platforms.” Those limited outlets leave creators competing for scarce opportunities.

Producer and screenwriter Haitham Dabbour said fewer platforms make buyers more cautious. Director Mariam Abou Ouf described the business as “approaching a deadlock.”

The six projects selected for the inaugural lab came to El Gouna to pitch their series and meet potential industry partners. Their aim was to move the projects closer to production.

What do displaced filmmakers need beyond visibility?

War and displacement shape both the stories reaching screens and the careers of the filmmakers behind them.

The first Safe Harbour MENA launched with the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the International Emerging Film Talent Association. It brought four filmmakers displaced within the region into training, project development and industry networking.

The initiative reframed support as more than a platform for telling displacement stories. Its emphasis was professional connections that could help filmmakers continue working.

The double win for “Citizen Osama” carried direct weight because director Ahmed Hassouna remains in Gaza. Safe Harbour MENA addressed career continuity, not only the visibility of stories about displacement.

How much creative freedom can Egyptian filmmakers secure?

Producer Mohammad Mashish pointed to a younger generation with “more freedom than before” and audiences increasingly exposed to international cinema. He argued that the industry needs more time for development and screenwriting.

Producer-distributor Ziad Srouji put the challenge more succinctly: “Specificity travels, generic does not.”

Muhammad Mustapha, whose documentary “Big Boys Don’t Cry” premiered at El Gouna, argued for models that lower financial risk while allowing filmmakers to take greater artistic risks.

These positions framed an Egyptian industry in transition. Filmmakers sought international reach without giving up room to make work rooted at home.

Where will Cinema on Wheels travel?

Cinema on Wheels will take three shorts from this year’s lineup on a free tour after the festival. The screenings will move through Hurghada, Minya, Qena, Luxor and Aswan before concluding in Cairo, with discussions accompanying them.

Artistic director Andrew Mohsen said: “We’re always exploring ways to increase the reach of El Gouna Film Festival beyond just its duration and the town of El Gouna.”

Amr Mansi described the purpose more directly: “Cinema on Wheels is our way of connecting El Gouna to the rest of the country.”

For a festival based in an affluent Red Sea resort, the program extends its films beyond El Gouna and brings its programming into other Egyptian cities.

The test now is whether CineGouna’s funding and television labs, Safe Harbour MENA and Cinema on Wheels can turn a nine-day event into sustained production, professional continuity and wider access to Egyptian films.