GOUNA, Egypt — The 9th edition of the El Gouna Film Festival wrapped its runs with an awards ceremony that codified a sophisticated, narrative-driven curatorial line. Rather than leaning purely on thematic weight, the festival’s juries consistently rewarded cinema that translates memory, fragility, and internal tension into precision craftsmanship.
Narrative Feature Competition: Safe Exit Claims Top Honors
Leading the narrative competition, Egyptian auteur Mohamed Hammad’s Safe Exit scored the top honor, taking home the El Gouna Golden Star for Best Narrative Feature along with its $50,000 cash prize. The film centers on Seamaan, a Coptic security guard in central Cairo navigating long-ingrained trauma following his father’s murder. Hammad’s direction bypasses high-decibel drama to deliver an intimate study of character and emotional recovery, anchored by performances from Marwan Waleed, Nora Ahmed, and Hazem Essam. The international jury was chaired by British filmmaker Joanna Hogg, alongside jurors Nahed El Sebai, Khaled Hammad, Shawkat Amin Korki, and Yesim Ustaoglu.
The Silver Star for Best Narrative Feature ($25,000) was awarded to Japanese director Yukiko Sode’s All the Lovers in the Night, an observational study of isolation and quiet human connection. Ali Asgari’s Iranian feature A Little Light secured the Bronze Star ($15,000) for its exploration of familial solidarity against existential despair.
Acting Awards: Juries Reward Internalized, Character-Driven Turns
In performance categories, juries favored understated, highly internalized turns. Jordanian actress Rakeen Saad took Best Actress for her performance in Zaid Abu Hamdan’s Owl, portraying a woman navigating power dynamics while shielding two young children from surrounding violence.
Jovan Ginic earned Best Actor for Miroslav Terzic’s Three Weeks Later, carrying the film’s narrative weight through silence and psychological tension as a teenager confronting collective apathy following a classmate’s suicide.
Arab Regional Showcase & Short Films: New Voices and Cinematic Diversity
In the regional showcase, Rakan Mayasi’s No Sleep Till Dawn took Best Arab Narrative Feature ($20,000), while Yassine Idrissi’s Moroccan entry Halima received a Special Mention.
In the Short Film Competition, Andres Davidsen’s Stolen Memories won the Golden Star ($15,000), while Marie Rose Ousta’s One Day Born picked up Best Arab Short Film ($5,000). The Silver Star went to Rudy Dexter’s Nobody Knows the World, and Egyptian director Gad Shaheen’s Malicious rounded out the category with the Bronze Star.
Documentary & Special Honors: Spotlighting Human Rights and Ecology
On the non-fiction front, Ahmed Hassouna’s Palestinian-French co-production Citizen Osama dominated the Feature Documentary Competition, claiming both the El Gouna Golden Star ($30,000) and the Best Arab Documentary award ($10,000). Dongnan Chen’s Whispers in May picked up the Silver Star ($15,000), and Rasha Shirazi’s War on Women secured the Bronze Star ($7,500).
Cross-sectional honors highlighted human-interest and environmental storytelling. Poh Si Teng’s American Doctor won the Audience Award for Cinema for Humanity ($20,000), while Gabriella Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman’s An Annoying Bear captured the El Gouna Green Star ($10,000) for environmental focus.
Career Achievement Award: Faouzi Bensaïdi Honored at Closing Ceremony
The festival’s closing ceremony culminated in a Career Achievement Award presented to acclaimed Moroccan writer-director Faouzi Bensaïdi. Introduced by Egyptian filmmaker Yousry Nasrallah, Bensaïdi accepted the honor before industry peers, reflecting on Egyptian cinema’s enduring imprint on his artistic trajectory before reciting lines by poet Mahmoud Darwish.
Closing out its ninth edition, El Gouna reinforced a critical standard that places cinematic language ahead of mere thematic noble intent, leaving behind a slate defined by formal rigor and human complexity.
