The 6th edition of the festival starts tomorrow in El Gouna.
After two postponements in October due to the war in the nearby Gaza Strip, the powerhouses behind El Gouna Film Festival talk about their decision to bravely carry on with their 2023 edition, their support of Palestinian cinema, and the importance of art during times of war.
Executive Director and co-founder of the festival Intishal Al-Timimi and Festival Director and veteran filmmaker and producer Marianne Khoury tell The Film Verdict about opening up El Gouna’s programme, making it available to young filmmakers and cinephiles in Cairo, and how they see the festival’s future in the continuously changing region, as well as aspiring to be “the Rotterdam of the Middle East”.
The Film Verdict: How did the programming team and the administration follow the news and decide to postpone the festival, later announcing a new special edition of El Gouna?
Marianne Khoury: From the beginning, we were closely following the situation. We first decided to postpone; then the second time, we felt that the situation was continuing to escalate. Even before the start of the war, we had the intention and the idea of the El Gouna festival not just as a focus on ceremonial aspects, but engaging with wider audiences. In this special edition, we kept the impressive programme intact, while adding the Window on Palestine programme.
It will be a different edition than the ones before. The festival’s essence and cinematic mission are the same, including the industry aspects. There might be fewer guests and celebrities.
TFV: After 7 October and the subsequent escalation in the war in Gaza, several festivals and artistic activities were cancelled, citing that this was not the time for art or movies. But El Gouna eventually decided to hold its 6th edition. How did you see that?
Intishal Al-Timimi: It is not easy. We postponed twice and held the festival, and others cancelled. I can not judge anyone. The cruelty of the disaster and the brutality that the people of Gaza were subjected to have led many people to be confused. I don’t want to be a preacher. We as a festival thought it wasn’t easy to hold this year’s edition, but we have reached an equation where we think that the filmmaking community is supportive. We never dealt with the festival as a party. We deal with it as a cultural and social event. Culture should not be a victim that we must throw under the bus.
We are presenting a solid and authentic Palestinian programme. And it is not for show. It is a well-studied film list with short and long features, classics and premieres. In addition we will host a panel named “Camera in Crisis: A Lens on Palestine’ which explores the intricate landscape of filmmaking in Palestine. It sheds light on the challenges that resilient people face, inviting audiences to gain a deeper understanding of the human experiences within Palestine.
Other events, collaborations, and initiatives will take place inside the festival, concentrating not just on Palestine but also on Sudan. We are proud to present this special edition, in which the programme remains the same as the original, yet expanded.
TFV: Regarding international guests, was there a concern about holding the festival close to Western Christmas and New Year’s?
Khoury: We discussed this with the whole team many times. But there was an essential aspect in this: we really wanted the festival to take place before the end of the year, not in 2024. The only free dates were 14-21 December. It was sensitive because it is close to Christmas, but we also had to consider the dates of the Marrakech Film Festival and those of the Red Sea Film Festival to avoid overlap with either. We are all one community and industry. The guests (filmmakers and professionals) get invited to all these festivals.
TFV: Are you concerned that El Gouna’s pro-Palestine position might affect the festival’s relationship with European festivals and cultural institutions, especially since most of them have taken a position in a different direction?
Khoury: We are talking about convictions. We are clearly supporting Palestine and Palestinian cinema for the administration and the festival. Our stand is clear. I understand tensions are high.. however, the images and news we see … .the reality is very, very painful…far from imaginable. What is happening is not a war. It is a genocide. However, El Gouna is a cinematic platform. This is the impact of cinema, it is a weapon to show images that are underrepresented and to give them a voice.
That is why we decided we wanted to focus on Palestinian cinema, with excellent films curated in collaboration with the Palestine Film Institute. It includes new ones such as The Teacher by Farah Nabulsi and Bye Bye Tiberias by Lina Soualem.
TFV: Do you think that the conflict and its ramifications in the U.S. and Europe will affect the funding given to Palestinian filmmakers?
Al-Timimi: At this point, it is a new moment in the world. The solidarity with the Palestinian cause is indeed the overwhelming reaction on the level of the people. This is the first time that cultural institutions are proceeding with caution, especially in Europe, despite having been longtime supporters of the Palestinians. The operation that Hamas did on 7 October took everyone by surprise. In Europe, there is silence towards the sheer destruction that we see in Gaza. I am concerned that this will affect Palestinian filmmakers in the short run, not in the long run.
TFV: Intishal, El Gouna was postponed in 2022, but the crew continued to watch films, travel, and follow the industry’s insights. What were your reflections in this pause? And what do you think El Gouna’s role should be in the future?
Al-Timimi: The pause for one edition had two sides. First the cycle of work stopped but there was a general feeling among the Arab and international film experts that something was missing: the El Gouna Festival in 2022. This gave the staff a sense of appreciation for what we worked on over the last five years. The festival is perceived differently. Some criticized it harshly. Some appreciate it sincerely. We present many prestigious films. It is also a place of financial funding and logistical support for filmmakers. This work was touched in the missed year. There was an overwhelming opinion that this pause would lead the festival to be canceled, walking on the same path as the Dubai International Film Festival, but internally we were calm.
Our programme represents a convergence of cinematic brilliance and the power of storytelling that transcends borders. Among the titles included in this showcase are Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes; the 2023 Berlinale’s Golden Bear winning documentary On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert and Guto Parente’s The Strange Path that swept four major awards at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.
This festival was created to stay. During this gap year, there were talent reinforcements in CineGouna funding initiatives, hospitality and logistics, such as bringing aboard Marianne Khoury. Her presence and influence on the programme and the direction of the festival were essential. The festival had to be more popular with the audience, and she was up for this challenge. There was always talk that El Gouna was a gated city and travelling to it is challenging, so our audience outreach initiatives are hopefully effective in developing this aspect.
TFV: Marianne, this is your first edition as an Artistic Director at El Gouna, a year after the festival was postponed in 2022. There are high expectations regarding programming, films, and organization. How are you managing that?
Khoury: This is my first festival and after a year’s break, indeed; however, when I arrived, there was already a lot of hard work taking place. Films were already being negotiated, and when I arrived the selection increased. What calmed me was that I always admired El Gouna’s programming and its direction. It was a smooth transition.
I participated in the audience outreach programme, first for El Gouna residents. We did the same with inviting young people to the festival as part of the CineGouna Emerge where they can watch films and participate in the workshops and discussions. We also worked on creating a parallel programme to be screened in Cairo’s Zawya arthouse cinema, and this is for individuals who cannot travel and get accommodation in El Gouna; they can enjoy the films in downtown Cairo.
TFV: In the future as the festival gets more and more established on the world map of film festivals, would you like El Gouna to have the same effect as which of these international festivals: Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam, Venice, Karlovy Vary?
Khoury: I personally think it should be “the Rotterdam of the Middle East”, because IFFR was the first festival where one understood what an industry is. You can not be isolated from the rest of the world and make cinema. You have to connect in a dynamic circle of network. Cinema is not just art but also an industry, market, and personnel organization. In September, many Egyptian film professionals, producers, editors, and filmmakers started to demand laws that regulate their working rights. El Gouna has a unique opportunity in the industry both locally in Egypt and in MENA. Gouna can play a leading role in the market, holding all the industry’s activities (pitching, meeting producers, brainstorming, networking) in the same space. And this role is not static; we have to monitor the movements in the surroundings and their activities. Hence El Gouna has to develop its capabilities to reposition itself in this field.
Al-Timimi: I agree with Marianne. Rotterdam is the first festival to develop co-productions. The Hubert Bals Fund is a prominent example of that. We, in El Gouna, are the first international film festival in the Arab world which, since its first edition, has started working on co-productions. People call us the “Cannes of the Middle East” because of the presence of celebrities on the red carpet and because of the summer vibes of both festivals. This was rather forced on us. We get massive amounts of gossip coverage of the celebrities in the festival’s first week, but the critical analytical coverage lasts for more than six months. In El Gouna, celebrities don’t just attend the opening and the closing but are also active over the week in the diverse activities of the festival. We want to assert that this is a serious festival and reflects the production scene in the Arab world.
