Interview: Egypt's El Gouna Film Festival helps discover, fund new young talents: artistic director

Source: Xinhua| 2020-10-31 22:13:40|Editor: huaxia

HURGHADA, Egypt, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's international El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) not only serves as an event for movies from around the globe to compete, but also helps discover and fund new young talents in the Arab world through its CineGouna Platform, said Ameer Ramses, the GFF's artistic director, in his interview with Xinhua.

"CineGouna Platform presents two programs: the CineGouna SpringBoard and the CineGouna Bridge. Both programs are meant to provide opportunities for sharing and learning," Ramses told Xinhua.

A creative hub for minds and markets, the CineGouna Platform is an industry-oriented event created to support and empower Arab filmmakers, helping them find artistic and financial support among Arab and international professionals, according to the official website of the GFF.

As one of the leading film festivals in the Middle East region, the fourth edition of the GFF opened on Oct. 23 in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of El Gouna under tight anti-coronavirus measures in place, and will close on Saturday night.

"The CineGouna Bridge is a meeting point and a forum for dialogue between different cinematic voices, serving as a link between filmmakers from the Arab world and their international counterparts," said Ramses, also a prominent Egyptian filmmaker.

Meanwhile, the CineGouna SpringBoard enables Arab film directors and producers with projects in development or films in post-production to find creative and financial support, he added.

During this year's edition, the CineGouna SpringBoard received 99 submissions (65 projects in development and 34 films in post-production) from all parts of the Arab world.

A panel of experts reviewed the submissions and selected 12 projects in development (nine narratives and three documentaries) and six films in post-production (five narratives and one documentary) on the basis of their content, artistic vision and overall financial feasibility.

"We believe that artistic films have many problems in funding, production and international distribution. That's why we decided to create CineGouna Platform to host these Arab filmmakers and help them develop their projects, get money and then international recognition," Ramses said.

"The invitees of the GFF are not only celebrities, producers and distributers. There are also a big number of film festivals' representatives who come here to watch the post-production films, which has helped many films cross the Mediterranean into Europe," the Egyptian filmmaker added. Enditem

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