Being Called the Largest El Gouna Film Festival Edition: Academy-Award Winning Actress Cate Blanchett Attended And More A-List Talent Are Set to Attend

Cate Blanchett at the 8th Edition of the El Gouna Film Festival | Photo Credit: GFF/Instagram

Iconic cinema legend Yousra is honored for 50 years of her work in film


The 8th edition of the El Gouna Film Festival has been happening in the resort town of El Gouna, which is situated on the Red Sea. Bringing together Arab cinema talent and international filmmakers under one mission: to celebrate a love of film. Running from October 17 until 24th, attendees have been able to view a plethora of films being shown. There is a strong Egyptian presence of nine feature films and four shorts, and five films have been officially submitted by their countries for the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature category. This is being called the largest El Gouna Film Festival edition.

Attending events throughout the week have been Egyptian cinema legend Youssra; Amr Mansi, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Festival; Mohamed Amer, CEO of El Gouna; Marianne Khoury, the Festival’s Artistic Director; and Intishal Al Timimi, Former Festival Director and Strategic Adviser to GFF.

The opening ceremony

For the opening ceremony, Naguib Sawiris, Founder of the Festival and Chairman of Orascom Investment Holding and his brother Samih Sawiris, Founder of El Gouna and Chairman of the Festival’s Board of Trustees welcomed everyone.  Naguib spoke in Arabic, while Samih spoke in English. “From the beginning, we believed that cinema is more than just art — it is a universal language that reveals the essence of humanity, reflects our pains and dreams, and allows us to imagine a fairer and more compassionate world,” said Naguib to the audience.

Amr Mansi speaking at the opening ceremony | Photo provided by GFF

Amr Mansi recognized two major events that have recently happened in Egypt: the Sharm El Sheikh Peace Summit and the long-awaited opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum. He noted Egypt as a place for fostering peace and being a beacon of culture. “One of the festival’s highlights this year is our collaboration with Netflix, which will present Frankenstein, directed by Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro, alongside an exclusive screenwriting workshop within the CineGouna Platform. Many films that once received CineGouna support have gone on to premiere at major festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno, Sundance, and Toronto. This year, we received a record-breaking 290 project submissions.”

Yousra spoke and gave Egyptian actress Menna Shalaby the Career Achievement Award. "What makes her truly special is the way she touches your heart with her sincerity and love. She’s moved me countless times: when she cries, I cry; when she laughs, I laugh,” said Yousra.

“I thank God for the gift of connecting with people, in all their diversity – it’s the greatest blessing I could ask for,” said Shalaby in her acceptance speech. “I was also fortunate to learn from true legends – Mahmoud Hamida, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Ilham Shaheen, Hala Sidki, Laila Elwi, and many others. Once, I only dreamed of meeting them. Today, I have the honor of standing here because of all I learned from them.”

Narrations throughout the night were done by podcast host Anas Bukhash. Filmmakers who have passed away, like American actress Diane Keaton, who recently passed away were honored. Lili Farid performed songs in Italian, French, Arabic, and English from Nessun Dorma, La Vie en Rose, Volare, and others, which aligns with the festival’s commitment to international filmmaking. Young singer Aish Al-Suwaidi joined her for some of the songs. And Egyptian actor Taha Desouky brought the audience to roaring laughter through his skit.

The night closed with a firework display and guests went on to celebrate the night by attending an opening ceremony afterparty.

The festival

At the start of the festival, an exhibit of 50 Years of Yousra opened. Visitors can walk through and see her costumes, props, and photos throughout her career. The actress also did a panel talk on her career. There was also a Film Criticism panel with Ahmed Shawky, Dubravka Lakic, and Olga Salwa. And, a Tuesday panel on Cinema Activating Tools for Humanity with Egyptian actors Hussein Fahmy, and Youssra, along with members from the UAE government: H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Zaabi and Hamdan Musallam Al Mazrouei started with a moving film about the UAE’s involvement in providing medical aid for Palestinians in Gaza.  

50 Years of Yousra exhibit | Photo Credit: SEELE

Blanchett attending the UNHCR dinner at GFF | Photo Credit: GFF/Instagram

The festival saw two-time Academy Award winning actress and UNHCR ambassador Cate Blanchett attend over the weekend. Walking the red carpet, Blanchett wore Louis Vuitton from the SS26 season. That night, UNHCR hosted a dinner where the actress received the Humanitarian Award. The next morning, she gave a talk for wider festival guests to attend, where she spoke on her humanitarian work.

Sponsors like EgyptAir, Orange, El Gouna Red Sea, BMW, Al Sagheer Salons, Orascom Development, Abou Ghaly, Pepsi, MAC, and Cairo Design District have made the festival possible. Tonight, MAC will be hosting a festival afterparty. 


Ally Portee

Starting out in the world of politics, Ally interned and worked in Washington, DC, in Congress, at The White House, and on political campaigns. Today she’s in a totally different arena: fashion. Developing an eye for sartorial craftsmanship, Ally has learned how to put intricate and detailed collections into words, while developing relationships with some of the world's most leading brands and covering Paris, Milan, and Riyadh Fashion Week shows. Ally started SEELE in 2012. Seele [ze-le] is the German word for Soul and its aim is to encourage people with faith-inspired and lifestyle content that stir the soul. Ally has written for Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar, The Hollywood Reporter, GQ Middle East, Vogue Arabia, Refinery29, NPR, Arabian Business, and Euronews.

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