The GFF closing ceremony

CAIRO - 30 September 2017: The closing ceremony of the first edition of El Gouna Film Festival was on September 29. It was attended by a notable group of Egyptian and international filmmakers like Vanessa Williams and the famous American actor Forest Whitaker, who was awarded lifetime achievement award. The festival management showed a documentary that features Whitaker’s most important acting roles.

The festival director Intishal Al Tamimi in his speech thanked the attendees, announcing that they will start to work on the next edition. ‘’ I am thankful to Amr Mansi GFF co-founder and the Red Sea governor Ahmed Abdallah for all their efforts, wishing to celebrate the closing ceremony of the festival for the next 20 or 30 years’’ said Samih Sawiris the festival Co-founder in his speech.

The dazzlingly well organised closing ceremony also announced the award winners.

The jury of the Feature Narrative Competition declared the following: El Gouna Golden Star went to Scary Mother (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 50,000), El Gouna Silver Star went to Insult (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 25,000) and Arthamia won El Gouna Bronze Star Award (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 15,000).

Photocopy won El Gouna Golden Star Award for the best Arabic Feature Narrative Film (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 20,000). Daniel Gimenez Cacho, the star of Zama, was awarded the Best Actor prize, while the best actress award went to Nadia Kunda, the star of Volubilis.

I am Not Your Negro won El Gouna Golden Star (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 30,000), Brimstone and Glory was awarded El Gouna Silver star (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 15,000) and Mrs. Fang won El Gouna Bronze Star Award (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 7,500).

I Have A Picture won El Gouna Golden Star Award for Best Arabic Feature Documentary (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 10,000) and Soufra won the Mentor Arabia Award (the prize includes $ 10,000).

Nightshade won El Gouna Golden Star Award (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 15,000), Merry-Go-round won El Gouna Silver Star Award (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 7,500) and Mama Bobo won El Gouna Bronze Star Award (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 4,000).

Punchline won El Gouna Golden Star Award for Best Arabic Short Film (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 5,000), while Baghdad Photographer won the Film Factory Award (which includes $ 5,000). The Cinema for Humanity Prize (the Audience award) went to Soufra (the prize includes the trophy, a certificate and $ 20,000).

The closing ceremony was presented by the famous Egyptian actress Amina Khalil, and ended with a song tailor-made for the festival by the mega star Yousra.