The 9th El Gouna Film Festival launches its nine-day run from October 15 to 23, 2026, showcasing more than 80 international and regional films under the enduring banner Cinema for Humanity while honoring Egyptian star Mona Zaki with its Creative Achievement Award.
Red Sea coastal preparations culminated on October 15 as the ninth edition opened in El Gouna with a slate of competitive and non-competitive screenings. Organizers chose the French narrative film All About Corrine, directed by Marc Fitoussi and starring Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Kiberlain, to set the opening-night tone. Festival artistic director Andrew Mohsen noted that the selection deliberately centers on the film industry itself to resonate with both specialists and general audiences, drawing focus to Huppert’s performance as an on-screen actress.
Documentaries compete for a Golden Star, a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and a prize for the best Arab documentary feature, with monetary awards divided equally between the winning director and lead producer. Specialized accolades include the Green Gouna Star for environmental films, the FIPRESCI prize awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics, and the NETPAC prize presented by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema.
Mona Zaki Accepts Creative Achievement Award and Retrospective Panels
Egyptian actress Mona Zaki accepts the Creative Achievement Award on opening night, recognizing a career spanning over three decades across stage, television, and film. Her body of work stretches from early stage and television roles through her cinematic debut opposite the late Ahmed Zaki in Laugh the Picture Looks Sweeter to portraying Umm Kulthum in the film The El-Sett.
Zaki leads the festival’s masterclass programming on October 16 with a session titled Beyond Stardom on the CineGouna stage, moderated by director Mohamed Yassin. Alongside honoring contemporary figures, the 2026 edition marks the tenth anniversary of the first screening of a film by the late director Mohamed Khan with a special retrospective program dedicated to his cinematic legacy. Additional masterclasses feature producer Mohamed Mashish discussing television drama, Swiss cinematographer Lucas Ettlin covering camera and character tension, and filmmaker Yousry Nasrallah exploring innovative cinema.
CineGouna Expands With New Series Development and MENA Safeguards
The core project-development and post-production funding platform received numerous submissions.
Two new funding initiatives join the platform for 2026: Egyptian Voices, which provides mentorship and development for domestic filmmakers, and Safe Harbour MENA, designed to support Middle Eastern filmmakers facing forced displacement or severe security risks. Across its talent development tracks, CineGouna reviewed applications to select participants.
International Juries and Jurors for 2026 Competitions
Festival organizers announced juries across narrative features, documentaries, shorts, and specialized awards.
British independent filmmaker Joanna Hogg chairs the narrative feature competition jury. Egyptian composer Khaled Hammad, Iraqi director Shawkat Amin Korki, Turkish director Yeşim Ustaoğlu, and actress Nahed El Sebai join her, with El Sebai serving on the narrative feature jury for the first time.
| Competition / Award | Jury Members & Leadership |
|---|---|
| Narrative Features | Joanna Hogg (President), Khaled Hammad, Shawkat Amin Korki, Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Nahed El Sebai |
| Documentaries & Green Star | Samir (President), Abuzar Aminy, Julie Frère, Rita Güetg, Gladys Joujou |
| Short Films | Amel Guellaty, Christos Passalis, Mishal Al Jasser |
| FIPRESCI Prize | Elena Rubashevska, Hind Hawala, Haitham Mofeed |
| NETPAC Prize | Siddharth Srinivasan, Kazem Salloum, Maria Rita Di Santo |
Boushra Skips Festival as Films Tackle War and Bullying
The festival’s opening days also drew attention off the red carpet.
Actress Boushra announced her decision to skip the ninth edition, sharing departure photos on social media to take a break from the event’s hectic pace and seek quiet in the Red Sea resort town.
On screen, the slate highlights intense human themes. Ahmed Hassouna’s documentary Citizen Osama documents daily life under the ongoing war in Palestine, appearing alongside other entries such as Rose and After Three Weeks, which examines adolescent bullying. Jason Osder and William Levy Youmans’ documentary Who Killed Alex Odeh tracks the life and peaceful activism of Palestinian-American organizer Alex Odeh.
