Jonathan Millet’s thriller about Syrian exiles in France “Ghost Trail” took the Golden Star for narrative film at this year’s El Gouna Film Festival, with Julien Colona’s “The Kingdom” and Shuchi Talati’s “Girls Will Be Girls” taking the Silver and Bronze Star awards respectively. The awards ceremony wrapped the seventh edition of the prestigious Egyptian festival, held at the resort town of El Gouna between Oct. 24-Nov. 1.
Adam Bessa also took the best actor award for “Ghost Trail,” with Laila Abbas’s comedy about the Islamic Sharia Law “Thanks for Banking With Us!” and Meryam Joobeur’s drama about a Tunisian family navigating their son’s strenuous return from war “Who Do I Belong To” received the El Gouna Star for the best Arab film. Documentary-wise, Farah Kassem’s “We Are Inside” received the Golden Star for documentary film, with Johan Grimonprez’s “Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat” and Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s “A New Kind of Wilderness” taking Silver and Bronze.
The El Gouna Star for the best Arab documentary film went to Anas Zawahri’s “My Memory Is Full of Ghosts” and “The Brink of Dreams,” directed by this year’s Variety MENA Talent of the Year Award winners Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir. The jury’s special mention went to Charles Peccia Galletto, the star of Anne-Sophie Bailly’s Venice Horizons entry “My Everything.”
The feature narrative jury consisted of Indian director Candida Das, French film critic and historian Charles Tesson, German actress Sibel Kekilli, Algerian director Sofia Djama and Egyptian actress Menna Shalaby. Lebanese director Eliane Rehab, French producer Jérôme Paillard, Tunisian director Nejib Belkadhi, German director Steffi Niederzoll and Moroccan filmmaker Hicham Farah made up this year’s feature documentary jury.
The short film jury consisted of renowned British-Egyptian actor Amir El-Masry, Algerian-Palestinian-French filmmaker Lina Soualem, Egyptian actress Amina Khalil, Filipino filmmaker Sam Maniacs and Jordan actress Rakeen Saad.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Mohammad Rasoulof’s Cannes special jury prize-winning “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” took this year’s Arab critics’ award for European film, which is being presented for the sixth time by European Film Promotion and the Arab Cinema Center. Rasolouf, who earlier this year illegally left Iran for Europe after getting a prison sentence for the film, couldn’t be in Egypt to accept the award.
Producer Mani Tilgner of Run Way Pictures accepted the award on the director’s behalf and said: “This recognition assures us that we not only succeeded in producing a good film under difficult conditions but also in telling a story that moves people around the world.”
The festival’s market arm, CineGouna, gave out over $400,000 in awards for 21 projects. Jad Chahine’s “The Masters of Magic and Beauty” took the Cinegouna Platform Award of $15,000 in cash for a project in development and Jihan’s “My Father and Qaddafi” took the CineGouna Platform Award $15,000 in cash for a project in post-production. Michelle Keserwany’s “Amara” was awarded $50,000 as MG for sales and distribution from MAD Solutions.
Amr Mansi, co-founder and CEO of El Gouna Film Festival, said that “the interest of all film and cultural institutions in the region in supporting CineGouna Funding confirms El Gouna as the place where projects are born and later become great films chosen by major festivals around the world.”
Ahmed Shawky, head of CineGouna Funding, said that the awards confirm “the valuable addition that CineGouna provides to talented filmmakers, whether through direct support or opening horizons for networking and cooperation with everyone who can benefit them.”
The CineGouna Funding jury consisted of Swiss expert Nadia Dresti, Sudanese director and producer Amjad Abu Al-Ala, and Tunisian critic and artistic director of Carthage Film Festival Lamia Guiga.
The full list of winners can be found here.
Full list of El Gouna Film Festival 2024 winners below:
Feature Narrative Competition
El Gouna Golden Star for Narrative Film
“Ghost Trail” by Jonathan Millet
France, Germany, Belgium
El Gouna Silver Star for Narrative Film
“The Kingdom” by Julien Colona
France
El Gouna Bronze Star for Narrative Film
“Girls Will Be Girls” by Shuchi Talati
India, France, U.S., Norway
El Gouna Star for the Best Actor
Adam Bessa in “Ghost Trail” by Jonathan Millet
France, Germany, Belgium
El Gouna Star for the Best Actress
Laura Weissmahr in “Salve Maria” by Mar Coll
Spain
El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Film
“Thank You for Banking With Us!” by Laila Abbas
Palestine, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt
“Who Do I Belong To” by Meryam Joobeur
Tunisia, France, Canada
Special Mention
Actor Charles Peccia Galletto in “My Everything” by Anne-Sophie Bailly
France
Feature Documentary Competition
El Gouna Golden Star for Documentary Film
“We Are Inside” by Farah Kassem
Lebanon, Qatar, Denmark
El Gouna Silver Star for Documentary Film
“Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat” by Johan Grimonprez
Belgium, France, Netherlands
El Gouna Bronze Star for Documentary Film
“A New Kind of Wilderness” by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen
Norway
El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Documentary Film
“The Brink of Dreams” by Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir
Egypt, France, Denmark, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
“My Memory Is Full of Ghosts” by Anas Zawahri
Syria
Short Film Competition
El Gouna Golden Star for Short Film
“Upshot” by Maha Haj
Palestine, Italy, France
El Gouna Silver Star for Short Film
“How We Got Mother Back” by Gonçalo Waddington
Portugal
“An Orange From Jaffa” by Mohammed Almughanni
Palestine, Poland, France
El Gouna Bronze Star for Short Film
“Ebb & Flow” by Nay Tabbara
Lebanon, Qatar, U.S.
Cinema for Humanity – Audience Award
“Disorder”
Lucien Bourjeily, Bane Fakih, Wissam Charaf, Areej Mahmoud
Lebanon
FIPRESCI
“Girls Will Be Girls” by Shuchi Talati
India, France, U.S., Norway
El Gouna Green Star Award
“The Battle for Laikipia” by Peter Murimi, Daphne Matziaraki
Kenya, Greece, United States
NETPAC
“We Are Inside” by Farah Kassem
Lebanon, Qatar, Denmark
