The fund is designed to discover new cinematic voices that have developed original narratives through the acquisition of initial funding.
In its sixth edition, running until December 21, the El Gouna Film Festival has announced a collaboration with O West. The festival introduces a Seed Funding initiative, marking the first phase of a fund valued at EGP 8m ($0.26m). This initiative is specifically designed to provide essential financial support to Egyptian and Arab filmmakers, empowering them to kickstart the development of their film projects.
The fund aims to discover new cinematic voices that have crafted original stories by securing initial funding. Subsequently, filmmakers and producers can leverage their projects to engage with institutions, producers, funding programmes, and grants to obtain additional financial support.
Commenting on this initiative, Marianne Khoury, Artistic Director of El Gouna Film Festival, said: “This new initiative marks a crucial development phase for filmmakers with powerful and exceptional stories who aspire to showcase them to the world.”
Khoury added: “The fund will support 10 film projects, with the first phase dedicated to developing full-length feature films, documentaries, and short films. This responds to the urgent need for producing original content and keeping pace with the high demand from prominent entities in today’s cinema industry.”
Amr Mansi, Co-Founder and Executive Director of GFF, stated: “El Gouna Film Festival’s platform has proven its success since its first year. Therefore, we aim to extend the festival’s positive impact on the industry throughout the entire year, not just during the festival period.”
He noted: “We are thrilled with O West’s endorsement of our vision, supporting the initiative fund to finance film projects. O West will also host several panel discussions and workshops featuring Egyptian and Arab industry experts to elevate emerging cinema creators. Details of the fund and the selection process will be announced soon.”
Intishal Al Timimi, Director of GFF, remarked: “When informed of this decision, I felt the same passion I experienced on the day we approved the initiation of the inaugural edition of El Gouna Film Festival and the establishment of El Gouna Film Platform. I sense the same enthusiasm as I witness the first brick of the film support fund being realised in El Gouna. I hope that this initiative becomes a cornerstone in the development of a greater number of cinematic projects for a new category, perhaps previously afforded limited opportunities.”
