EXCLUSIVE: Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival has launched a new initiative supporting and promoting emerging directing, writing and producing talents in the MENA region and unveiled the first participants.
The Cinegouna Emerge Rising Stars initiative has been created within the framework of the festival’s Cinegouna Emerge program aimed at nurturing the next generation of MENA film professionals.
The inaugural selection comprises Mohammed Almughanni (Palestine), Faris Alrjoob (Jordan), Leila Basma (Lebanon), Rasha Hosny (Egypt), sibling directorial duo Noel and Michelle Keserwany (Lebanon) and Dessil Mekhtigian (Egypt).
Gaza-born director Mohammed Almughanni has a bachelor’s and master’s in film directing from Łódź Film School in Poland. His most recent short An Orange from Jaffa, about a young Palestinian man trying to cross an Israeli checkpoint to join his mother on the other side, won the Grand Prix in the International Competition of the Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival earlier this year.
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Almughanni is currently developing his first feature-length documentary, Son of the Streets about a teenager growing up in the Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila in Beirut, Lebanon. He works under the banner of his company Gaza Films.
Alrjoon is a Berlin-based Jordanian interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker. His Mubi acquired short The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry, about a grieving German woman who travels to the Red Sea town where her lover has just died, played to acclaim in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2023. It also won the Silver Star in the El Gouna’s Short Film Competition last year.
Director and screenwriter Basma hails from the Lebanese town of Tyre. She is currently based in Prague, where she gained a MFA in film directing from FAMU and now works as a mentor. Her graduation short film Sea Salt played in Venice’s Horizons sidebar in 2023. She is currently developing her first feature film Running with Beasts, and her first feature documentary Dance with Me.
Egyptian film producer, programmer, critic and script editor Hosny was in Venice this year, with Khaled Mansour’s Seeking Haven For Mr. Rambo, which world premiered in Horizons Extra. It marked her first feature as a producer, coming together at the same time as her first produced short film Two Strangers, A Night. Beyond her producing activities she also programs for the Cairo and Tribeca film festivals and was the first female president of the Egyptian Film Critics Association.
Sibling filmmakers and multidisciplinary artists Noel and Michelle Keserwany live between Beirut and Paris. They have been making satirical political music videos together since 2012. They broke onto the festival circuit in 2023, with short Les Chenilles, which won the Berlinale’s Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the Berlinale in 2023. The first Arabic film to receive this award, Les Chenilles went on to win El Gouna’s Golden Star in the short film competition last year and was pre-selected for France’s César Awards.
Dessil Mekhtigian was born in Paris, raised in Egypt and is of Armenian origin. After high school she returned to Paris to study costume design at ESMOD and then studied directing at Luc Besson’s l’Ecole de la Cite film school. Her work to date includes short film From the Work of the Devil, about a young woman who returns to Cairo after 10 years away to organize an exhibition on Armenian photographers. She is developing personal projects while working on film sets.
Under the Cinegouna Emerge Rising Stars initiative, the selected filmmakers will attend the seventh edition of the El Gouna Film Festival, running from October 24 to Nov 1. There, they will participate in the Cinegouna industry program, network with industry professionals and also talk about their careers to date and upcoming projects in an industry panel.
The selection is overseen by Hayat Aljowaily, the Head of Cinegouna Emerge, and the founder of the program.
“We had an incredibly difficult time selecting the participants for this inaugural year of the Rising Stars program: the region is full of incredible talents,” she said.
“One thing that stood out to me with this cohort is their common desire to represent and share the stories, experiences, and perspectives of their communities. These filmmakers aim to highlight the unique narratives of their regions, such as Gaza, Lebanon, Palestine, and the broader Arab world, often focusing on underrepresented or marginalized voices.”
El Gouna Film Festival Executive Director and co-founder Amr Mansi said the new initiative was a natural extension of the event’s commitment to supporting filmmakers in the Arab world.
“Through this program, we aim to empower these filmmakers to realize their full potential,” he said. “Having these rising stars at the festival allows them not only to showcase their creativity but also to learn from industry leaders and expand their professional horizons, which contributes to enriching the cinematic landscape in our region.”
Festival director Marianne Khoury emphasized the festival’s desire to empower new voices: “We believe that these rising stars have the ability to offer diverse perspectives and enrich cinema with their unique creativity. We look forward to seeing their increasing impact on both the local and international film scenes.”
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