Joanna Hogg to Lead El Gouna Film Festival Main Jury — SkimNews
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- Joanna Hogg, the British director behind "The Souvenir" and "The Eternal Daughter," will preside over the main jury of Egypt's El Gouna Film Festival (Oct. 15-23) and deliver a masterclass titled "Life Into Film" during the event.
- Hogg's panel includes Egyptian actress Nahed El Sebaie ("19 B"), Egyptian composer Khaled Hammad ("The Yacoubian Building"), Iraqi-Kurdish filmmaker Shawkat Amin Korki ("Memories on Stone"), and Turkish auteur Yeşim Ustaoğlu, whose drama "What Remains" recently premiered at San Sebastian.
- Swiss-Iraqi filmmaker Samir will preside over both El Gouna's feature documentary competition and its "Green Star" jury, which evaluates films addressing environmental issues.
- Joining Samir on the documentary/Green Star panel are Afghan-born, Netherlands-based filmmaker Aboozar Amini ("Kabul, Between Prayers"), Belgian producer Julie Frères, Zurich Film Festival director Reta Guetg, and Lebanese editor Gladys Joujou.
- The short films jury features Saudi director Meshal AlJaser ("Naga"), Tunisian director Amel Guellaty ("Where the Wind Comes From"), and Greek actor-director Christos Passalis, who starred in Yorgos Lanthimos's "Dogtooth."
- The festival is held at a Red Sea resort roughly 250 miles south of Cairo and is running its ninth edition this year.
Why it matters: El Gouna's ninth edition signals continued auteur-festival ambitions with a jury spanning the UK, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey, and beyond — a cross-regional lineup reinforcing the Red Sea festival's bid for arthouse credibility. The newly introduced 'Green Star' environmental prize, judged alongside the documentary competition, expands the festival's award architecture beyond standard competition categories.
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