El Gouna Film Festival Expands CineGouna Into TV Series — SkimNews
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- CineGouna is expanding into television and streaming for the first time via CineGouna Series, a development lab proposed by screenwriter Mariam Naoum that drew more than 125 submissions for six slots.
- CineGouna Funding received more than 310 submissions from across the Arab world, selecting 13 projects in development and six films in post-production, with a new Egyptian Voices track adding four homegrown projects.
- El Gouna Film Festival launched the Safe Harbour MENA initiative, bringing four displaced SWANA-region filmmakers to El Gouna for training and networking under its "Cinema for Humanity" mission.
- GFF announced a strategic partnership with the Zurich Film Festival in August covering programming collaboration, film and talent exchanges, and jury recommendations.
- El Gouna Film Festival sold more than 40,000 tickets and issued more than 7,000 accreditations last year, with attendance up 30% from the prior edition.
- GFF struck an agreement with Cairo arthouse cinema Zawya to bring part of its program to the capital, with Al Nahar Television Network providing daily broadcast coverage and selected panels streamed digitally.
Why it matters: Mansi says sponsors are now channeling direct grants to filmmakers — "never a conversation I could have dreamed of five, six years ago" — meaning CineGouna's pivot into series financing and a year-round industry footprint gives filmmakers a more permanent financing pipeline rather than an annual showcase, intensifying competition for projects and talent across the SWANA region.
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