El Gouna Film Festival is proud to open its arms, in its eighth edition, for an exceptional celebration of the centenary of one of the most daring and influential Arab filmmakers in the history of cinema, Youssef Chahine. Chahine did not merely capture images; he opened spaces for questions that Arab cinema had not dared to ask before him.
This celebration begins in El Gouna, not as a conventional centenary opening, but as the first stop of a borderless journey, one that recognizes neither distance nor time. A train carrying creatures of light and motion passes through various stations, not to rest but to awaken memory. These stations speak in many languages, yet share one meaning: cinema has always been, and will remain, an act of life and resistance.
This is not a centenary confined to a speech or a tribute, but an ongoing, interactive moment, branching, renewing, and refusing closure. It begins here, on the shores of El Gouna, in an open space that mirrors his cinema. Like him, it moves, from one idea to another, from one place to the next: from Montpellier in France, where young filmmakers chose Chahine as their compass to rediscover cinema, to Japan and Switzerland, and on to major film festivals around the world preparing to welcome him not as a guest, but as a present absence, returning in every frame, in every question.
Youssef Chahine was a filmmaker who built, through his films, a staircase made of dreams, one we can all climb to see the world through his eyes. Each of his films was an extension of his restless, questioning self, from Cairo Station to The Other, from Alexandria… Why? to An Egyptian Story, from The Land to The Sparrow. Chahine sought his right to dream, to search for identity and the body, to question the self and society, youth and old age, submission and revolution, through a sensitive camera that sought not sterile documentation but emotional provocation. His films created a cinematic language that was unsettling and revolutionary, transforming even the harshest moments into pulsations of magic.
El Gouna Film Festival opens its spaces to revive this singular voice through events celebrating the centenary of the director who changed the shape of storytelling and broke the boundaries of narrative. Youssef Chahine — born on January 25, 1926, in Alexandria — returns to illuminate screens and halls once again. His legacy lives through a “Chahinian” moment that goes beyond the screen and unfolds across three different paths, engaging with his cinema through diverse perspectives and interactive creative forms. This centenary approaches Chahine’s legacy not as a closed archive, but as an open question — one that summons not only a filmmaker, but an entire world.
“Cairo Station”: An Exhibition Redefining Cinema and Space
The exhibition is built on the idea of liberating the image into an interactive space, where memory intertwines with place. As visitors enter the Cairo Station exhibition, they move from distant observation into active participation — visually and intellectually immersed in a Chahinian journey resembling a train whose rails are stories and whose stations are films. Inside, his filmography is translated into living visual forms, through the collaboration of filmmaker and producer Marianne Khoury, Artistic Director of El Gouna Film Festival, and architect Shereen Farghal, founder and director of JYStudios and the exhibition designer, with the support of Misr International Films and the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, the festival impact partner.
The exhibition offers a sensory experience inspired by the visual and conceptual depth of Cairo Station, intersecting with cinematic fragments from Chahine’s works to weave an alternative, magical narrative. It evokes his presence as if he were seated beside you, taking you on a personal journey of rediscovering his cinema — a journey that does not end as you exit, but rather begins.
What lends Cairo Station exhibition its creative gravity is the attempt to shift the visual experience from one limited by space to one defined by space — transforming the act of viewing into a spatial and interactive encounter. It reframes Chahine’s cinema within a new dimension, transforming it into a living, luminous environment of possibilities. Changing the medium through which we experience cinema allows us to rediscover film as an art form — to feel it physically and emotionally anew.
From “Alexandria… Again and Forever” to a Generation Raised in His Shadow
Chahine returns to the big screen as El Gouna Film Festival screens one of his most personal works, Alexandria… Again and Forever — the third in his autobiographical series and a landmark in Arab cinema, where he declared that his own life was worthy of being told. Alongside his film, four works by Arab filmmakers influenced by Chahine’s existential restlessness, rebellion, and creative daring will be screened — filmmakers who did not follow in his shadow, but as devoted disciples who mastered the language of confession. They inherited from him the belief that autobiography is not mere exposure but resistance — and that storytelling is not a luxury, but a necessity for survival.
Films screened in the Youssef Chahine program alongside Alexandria… Again and Forever:
Nahla (1979) – directed by Farouk Beloufa (Algeria)
The Young Arab Cinema (1987) – directed by Ferid Boughedir (Tunisia)
Halfaouine (1990) – directed by Ferid Boughedir (Tunisia)
Bye-Bye Souirty (1998) – directed by Daoud Aoulad-Syad (Morocco)
Journey with the Master – Youssef Chahine: From Chahine’s Lens to Their Own Worlds
In an open dialogue (on October 19, 2025) that invites reflection rather than farewell, the festival hosts a panel exploring Chahine’s influence — not as an icon, but as an ongoing question mark. How did he transform the visual language of cinema? How did he open the door for confessional filmmaking? And how, despite changing times, does he remain a reference for self-reflection — of nation, of humanity, of the world?
Youssef Chahine, a pillar of Arab cinema, shaped generations of filmmakers who developed their own cinematic voices. In this session, acclaimed directors Yousry Nasrallah, Daoud Aoulad-Syad, and Farid Boughdir will reflect on their first films, artistic journeys, and the profound impact of their experiences with Chahine — whose creative voice still resonates through Arab and world cinema.
On this occasion, Marianne Khoury, Artistic Director of El Gouna Film Festival, stated: “Youssef Chahine was not just a filmmaker, but a state of perpetual questioning. Celebrating his centenary at El Gouna Film Festival is not merely a tribute to a glorious past — it is a renewed dialogue with a legacy that continues to inspire generations of filmmakers. Through these events, we aim to rediscover Chahine not only as a symbol but as a living creative energy — one that endures in everyone who believes that cinema has the power to ask questions and resist oblivion.”
