GFF announces CineGouna Platform winners

CAIRO- 29 September 2017: The El Gouna Film Festival announced the winners of the CineGouna Platform Awards on Thursday, September 28.

Egyptian film critic Safaa Al-Lithy presented at the beginning of the ceremony the “Samir Farid” Award, which went to the film “Scary Mother” by Ana Urushadze. Egyptian film “Two Rooms and a Hallway” by Sherif Elbendary won the El Gouna Film Festival’s $20,000 award. Director Mounia Akl’s Lebanese film “Costa Brava” won the New Century Award, which is worth $10,000. The Egyptian film “Abu Zaabal 1989” by Bassam Mortada won the “Creativity” Award, also worth $10,000.

Mentor Arabia presented the $5,000 cash award to the film “200 Meters” by Amin Nayfa from Palestine, while Film Factory awarded the film “Behind the Curtains” by Tunisian director Afaf Bin Mahmoud with another $5,000 cash award. The Aroma Studios Award, which targeted film projects in development and includes a cash prize worth $5,000, was awarded to the film project “Nora in Wonderland” by Tunisian director Hinde Boujemaa.

Finally, Aroma Studios awarded another film project in development with a $5,000 cash prize, which went to “Yomeddine” by Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawki.

“I’m very happy with the activities that the CineGouna Platform offered to aspiring filmmakers, and I’d like to salute the efforts of all participants, especially that the platform was mainly produced by the youth, and not by professional filmmakers. I believe that all participating films can easily compete in next year’s El Gouna Film Festival, and in any other international festival, given the level of creativity and production levels,” El Gouna Film Festival Director Intishal Al-Tamimi commented on the occasion.

The CineGouna Platform included a number of specialized workshops, master classes and panel discussions, including a master class by Andrea Iervolino, moderated by Nick Vivarelli, a panel entitled “Financing Your Film: Film Funders in Conversation”, a special Tayarah’s Short Film Pitch and Workshop, in addition to a master class entitled “Acting: The Art of The Craft” by Forest Whitaker and a special filmmaking master class by the iconic Oliver Stone, among others.

CineGouna Platform is a creative and business hub established with the aim of nurturing and supporting the most promising talents of Egyptian and Arab cinema.

Representatives of some of the most prestigious film festivals and film institutions, as well as distributors, film sales agents, major television channels and networks attended and participated in the various activities programmed by the CineGouna Platform throughout the El Gouna Film Festival’s.