El Gouna Film Festival ‘18
I find myself in Egypt, in an environment filled with contradictions, at the 2nd edition of the Al Gouna Film Festival, an invited guest of Mohammed Atef, one of its programmers and a colleague in the Arab Critics Association of which I am a member.
Held in a highly engineered resort region of Egypt called El Gouna, where hotels, homes, golf courses, many islands, swimming pools, bars and beaches on the Red Sea have been created as an eco-friendly destination aimed to raise awareness on protecting the environment and protecting the stunning coral reefs where we spent hours snorkeling, the Festival has provided us with all the services we could ask for and they are administered by kind, approachable and infinitely patient attendants.
A worldwide mix of international industry executives, fellow writers and journalists have bonded in this environment. After a morning of writing, we go see three films a day, attend conferences on issues brought up by Cinema for Humanity (organized by our own former Sundance Director Nicole Guillemet, or issues of the film industry itself, and socialize in the evening at a party, reception or cocktails and free dinner back at the hotel until midnight or later on the terrasse.
GFF founders Naguib Sawiris and Samih Sawiris are former engineers and now heads of Orascom Investment which invests in agri-industries, financial services and real estate, logistics, transport and telecoms, and cultural entertainment. The overall hope is that they are creating a new festival to take up the slack caused by the cessation of the Dubai Film Festival, though it is held timewise so close to Cairo and Marrekesh that the Arabic cinema selection is not as complete as it might be, as it is split among these MENA fests.
We believe in the role art plays in the development of society and in challenging regressive ideas… that is why we established GFF. (GFF founders Naguib Sawiris and Samih Sawiris)
Aside from catching up on such Cannes films as the Palme d’or winning Shoplifters, Cold War, the Silver Bear-winning The Heiresses, recent Locarno Leopard winner Too Late to Die Young, Danish Academy Award submission The Guilty or Toronto Master film Divine Wind (and others which you can see on the El Gouna website), we are able to watch a wide range of Arabic fiction, docs and shorts including Cannes Competition film Yomeddine from Egypt (and Egypt’s submission for Academy Award nomination). And, thanks to Festivalscope, we are able to watch what we have missed for the next fortnight.
New buzz films here include Samouni Road by Stefano Savona about the Samouni family’s preparation for a wedding on the outskirts of Gaza City, The Swing by Cyril Aris from Lebanon about a nonagenarian awaiting his daughter’s return from Latin America where she has been traveling, and A Land Imagined from Singapore, one critic’s hands-down favorite.
The contradiction of watching films by Middle Easterners (and others) dealing with issues of poverty, war, emigration and the place of women from this 1% perch of luxury was a bit hard to handle at first, but one quickly adjusts…and on reflection one can consider that we, writers, cinephiles, adherents to the 7th Art are part of an even smaller segment of society.
We watch and discuss stories giving voice, at this time, to those who most affected by destructive elements brought upon society by male-dominated fascistic and militaristic regimes. Not to say that the right has no art or artists, it is the left that creates art, uses imagination and intelligence in imagining that film can actually change the world without being propaganda. It is not “the right” that we see creating art and cinema. We on the left do have a role in the betterment of society, and so enough of guilt for enjoying the view from our perch. If we cannot enjoy the life we have here on earth, then we cannot possibly be of service to others.
I am honored by the privilege of being here.
