El Gouna Film Festival opens its ninth edition today on Egypt's Red Sea coast with an opening ceremony that includes a Career Achievement Award for Egyptian actress Mona Zaki, running through 23 October, according to the festival's own press releases. The festival's selected opening title is the French film "All About Corrine," which the festival said is set to screen as the official opening film on 16 October, the day after today's opening ceremony.
"All About Corrine" is directed by Marc Fitoussi and stars Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Kiberlain, the festival said in a release announcing the opening film. Among Egyptian entries, the feature "Safe Exit" is set to compete in the festival's full narrative feature competition, according to a separate festival announcement.
"Safe Exit" is directed by Mohammed Hammad and stars Marwan Waleed, Noha Foad and Hazem Essam, according to CairoScene. It follows Samaan, a young Coptic Christian working night shifts as a security guard in Downtown Cairo while coping with trauma from witnessing his father's murder, whose isolation is gradually broken by a friendship with Fatimah, a young Muslim woman, the outlet reported. The film had its world premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2026 and also screened at the Shanghai International Film Festival, CairoScene said, adding that it was shortlisted for best screenplay at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
Zaki is due to receive the Career Achievement Award during the opening ceremony, according to CairoScene, which, like Broadcast Pro Middle East, described her career as spanning more than three decades; the festival's own release put it instead at more than two decades. Previous recipients include Egyptian actors Adel Imam and Mahmoud Hemida, alongside international names such as Forest Whitaker, and, in 2025, Menna Shalaby, CairoScene reported.
Zaki's credits include "Sahr El-Layali," "Perfect Strangers" and "Flight 404," according to CairoScene, which also noted she won the Faten Hamama Excellence Award at the Cairo International Film Festival in 2020.
Speaking about the honour, Zaki said, according to Broadcast Pro Middle East, that acting had never simply been a profession for her but a way to inhabit different worlds and tell stories, particularly stories about women that resonated with her, and that spending her life doing work she loves is itself a privilege. She added that the award was a reminder that the characters and stories she has presented have left a lasting impact on audiences, and said she intends to keep working on stories drawn from Egyptian and wider Arab realities, while thanking the festival for the recognition, the outlet reported.
GFF artistic director Andrew Mohsen said Zaki's career stands out for its variety and her refusal to limit herself to one type of role or medium, according to Broadcast Pro Middle East.
The ninth edition carries the theme "9 Years of Stories" and the tagline "From the Red Sea Shores to the International Film Map," according to the Rio Times, which reported that organisers expected around 80 films across three competition strands once the full programme was published, spanning narrative features, documentaries and shorts. Early selections named by the festival included "Yellow Letters," winner of the Golden Bear in Berlin, and "Fatherland," whose director, Pawel Pawlikowski, shared the best director prize at Cannes with "La Bola Negra," the Rio Times said.
CineGouna, the festival's industry platform, runs its funding programme from 16 to 22 October alongside the public festival, offering awards and services that have been worth more than $300,000 in recent editions to Arab and African projects in development or post-production, according to the Rio Times. New for this edition is CineGouna Series, a strand dedicated to developing Arab television and series projects, the outlet reported.
The festival also announced the launch of a Safe Harbour MENA initiative together with the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the IEFTF, according to the festival's press archive, though further details of the programme were not included in that announcement.
El Gouna Film Festival was founded in 2017 by Egyptian businessmen Naguib Sawiris and Samih Sawiris, along with Amr Mansi, Bushra Rozza and Kamal Zadeh, with the inaugural edition opening on 22 September 2017 in the Red Sea town, according to Wikipedia's entry on the festival. Intishal Al Timimi, previously of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, served as the first edition's artistic director, and the inaugural top narrative prize went to the Georgian film "Scary Mother," while Forest Whitaker received a lifetime achievement award that year, the same source says.
The festival has grown since then to run competitions across feature narratives, documentaries and short films, alongside the CineGouna industry platform that supports Arab and African filmmakers through funding, a forum, a market and talent-development programmes, according to Wikipedia's entry on the festival.
Frequently asked questions
When and where is El Gouna Film Festival 2026?
The ninth edition runs from 15 to 23 October 2026 in El Gouna, a resort town on Egypt's Red Sea coast, according to the festival's own press releases.
What film is opening the festival?
"All About Corrine," directed by Marc Fitoussi and starring Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Kiberlain, is the festival's selected opening film, set to screen on 16 October, according to the festival.
Why is Mona Zaki being honoured this year?
She is receiving the festival's Career Achievement Award for a career that CairoScene and Broadcast Pro Middle East both describe as spanning more than three decades, though the festival's own release put it at more than two decades. Previous recipients include Egyptian actors Adel Imam and Mahmoud Hemida, alongside international names such as Forest Whitaker, and, in 2025, Menna Shalaby, according to CairoScene.
Is any Egyptian film in competition this year?
Yes. The Egyptian feature "Safe Exit," directed by Mohammed Hammad, is set to compete in the festival's full narrative feature competition, according to the festival's own announcement and CairoScene. The film previously premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.
When was El Gouna Film Festival founded?
It was founded in 2017 by Naguib Sawiris, Samih Sawiris and partners, with its first edition opening on 22 September 2017 in El Gouna, according to Wikipedia's entry on the festival.
