The seventh edition of the El Gouna Film Festival has announced its lineup with 13 films vying for the coveted El Gouna Star awards. Running from Oct. 24 to Nov. 1, the Egyptian resort town will soon transform into a cinematic hub, bringing together an eclectic mix of narrative and documentary films that encapsulate the best of international filmmaking over the past year.
Some of the standout entries competing this year include Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance—a biting meditation on fame, identity, and the lengths one will go to for immortality; Johan Grimonprez’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’État, which offers an unflinching look at how jazz was wielded as a tool of Cold War soft power; and Elementary by Claire Simon, an exploration of the societal pressures that shape young minds in the seemingly ordinary world of a Parisian public school.
Zhengfan Yang’s Stranger, a meditation on transient relationships set within the anonymity of hotel rooms, and Shuchi Talati’s Girls Will Be Girls, which interrogates the mother-daughter dynamic against the backdrop of a Himalayan boarding school, are also featured in this year’s lineup.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Millet’s Ghost Trail brings the personal and political to the fore with its gripping narrative of Syrian fugitives and their relentless pursuit of justice, and Dying by Matthias Glasner offers a contemplative and sobering examination of familial fractures as death draws near. The festival’s willingness to embrace animation is also evident in Gints Zilbalodis’ Flow, a visually stunning allegory of survival and cooperation set in a world overtaken by water.
In its seventh year, the El Gouna Film Festival remains committed to elevating the art of cinema, while constantly reexamining its role in an ever-evolving global landscape.
At the heart of the festival’s ethos is a commitment to discovery, which Artistic Director Marianne Khoury reaffirmed: “Since its inception, El Gouna Film Festival has served as a platform for emerging filmmakers, a place where fresh voices in cinema can find their audience.”
Andrew Mohsen, the festival’s Head of Programming, emphasized this idea further. “We strive to maintain El Gouna Film Festival’s reputation for hosting Arab premieres of the year’s most acclaimed films while also shining a light on new cinematic perspectives,” he said.
