New El Gouna Chief Andrew Mohsen Puts 'Discovery' First — SkimNews
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- Andrew Mohsen takes over as artistic director of El Gouna Film Festival for his first edition, succeeding Marianne Khoury, with 'discovery' as his stated core mission
- Mohsen told Variety the festival aims to draw attention to films that didn't get coverage elsewhere, noting major festivals screen around 100 films annually but only prizewinners stay in the international conversation
- El Gouna screened just one non-Egyptian Arab film in its narrative competition last year and one in documentary — its lowest regional showing for regional cinema since the festival began
- Mohsen is widening programming scope with a larger genre cinema presence this year and pursuing closer integration between the festival and CineGouna, its industry and talent-development arm
- CineGouna Series, a new addition led by Egyptian screenwriter Mariam Naoum, extends the festival's industry program into scripted television — a fast-growing medium across the Arab world
- Mohsen, a former film critic and Cairo International Film Festival veteran who joined El Gouna in 2023, named Guillermo del Toro and Park Chan-wook as his two dream festival guests
Why it matters: El Gouna's discovery-first push responds to a hard data point: just one non-Egyptian Arab film in last year's narrative competition — its lowest regional showing since launch. By investing in its own funding program and approaching filmmakers earlier to dodge premiere commitments to rival festivals, El Gouna is repositioning as the connector between Arab and African filmmakers and the international circuit.
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