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Egypt Independent
Amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the fourth El-Gouna Film Festival (GFF) launched on Friday. This year’s festival is hosted under the slogan “Man and Dream”.
The GFF’s management completed the final preparations for the opening ceremony by Friday afternoon.
The festival presents new original films from around the Arab region and the world, promoting cross-cultural interaction and cross-culture understanding through the art of film.
The GFF offers awards to participants of three different categories; the feature narrative competition, the feature documentary competition, and the short film competition. The festival shows special interest in humanitarian films.
The festival will take place from 23 to 31 October in Egypt’s lavish resort town of El-Gouna, on the Red Sea near Hurghada.
The festival’s opening night witness the screening of the film “L’Homme qui Avait Vendu Sa Peau” (The Man Who Sold His Skin) by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, which premiered internationally at the Venice Film Festival.
The film’s star, Yahya Mahayni, received the Orizzonti Award for Best Actor in Venice, and the film itself won the Edipo Re Award.
The film began as a project that was shown two years ago at the second edition of the GFF.
The film depicts the journey of a Syrian young man, Sam Ali, who immigrated to Lebanon, fleeing the ongoing war in Syria. He meets Jeffrey Godfrey, the most famous artist in the field of contemporary art.
Determined to make it to Belgium to be with his girlfriend, Ali participates in an unusual arrangement with the artist.
A full line-up of GFF films can be found on the festival’s website.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm.
