El Gouna Film Festival

TypeFeature film festival

ThemeInternational festival

LocationEgypt

PeriodOctober, November

Event presentation

The mission is to foster better communication between different cultures through the art of filmmaking. Its goal is to connect filmmakers from the region with their international counterparts in the spirit of cooperation and cultural exchange through the presentation of the finest recent cinematic productions. The Festival is committed to the discovery of new voices and strives to be a catalyst for the development of Cinema in the Arab World, particularly through its industry segment, CineGouna Platform.

The 2nd edition of El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) will be held from September 20 to 28, 2018, in El Gouna, located on the Red Sea, Egypt.

Information on feature films

Rules and Regulations

Article 1

El Gouna Film Festival accepts entries from all countries of the world to be screened in the following sections of the Festival:

Feature Narrative Competition
Feature Documentary Competition
Short Films Competition
Official Selection Out of Competition.

Article 2

Only films completed after 15 December 2017 are eligible for the Feature Narrative Competition, the Feature Documentary Competition, the Short Film Competition and the Official Selection Out of Competition. Preference will be given to World and International premieres.

Article 3

The minimum duration of a Feature Narrative film must be 65 minutes.
The minimum duration of a Feature Documentary must be 52 minutes.
Shorts Films should have a maximum duration of 30 minutes.

Article 4

Submissions will be accepted only from films that have not had a public screening in the MENA ( middle east and north Africa ) region, in a theatre, television or on any Internet based VOD platform.

Article 5

Once a film has been selected and the invitation to participate at the Festival has been accepted, it cannot be withdrawn from the Festival programme.

Article 6

All films must be in their original language and, where this language is other than English, the film must be subtitled in English.

Furthermore, all the films in competition which have dialogues in a language other than Arabic will be electronically subtitled in Arabic, provided that the festival receives the filmspotting list and copy no later than August 20, 2018. If required, GFF will cooperate with the producer or distributor of the film for the production and presentation of Arabic language electronic subtitles.

Article 7

All submissions must be sent fully pre-paid to the address indicated on the Entry Form. The Festival reserves the right to refuse any shipment entailing additional costs.

The submission must contain the following:

A duly completed Entry Form. An Entry Form is available on our website www.elgounafilmfestival.com. This form has to be completed and submitted online.
If the film is submitted through a link, the link should be available till the end of the selection process. A PDF of the Entry Form duly filled in and signed by the rights holder should be attached to the e-mail that includes the link.
Only the rights holder or duly authorized person is eligible to submit an entry. Submission of a film to GFF implies unconditional acceptance of the GFF’s Rules and Regulations.
Submitter(s) is / are fully responsible for the authenticity of the information provided. If any discrepancy is found in the information provided by submitter(s), the entry will be disqualified.
If the film is selected, GFF will require the following materials:
An uploaded copy of the film with English subtitles, if the film's original language is other than English.
Detailed documentation, including: a synopsis of the film, a biography and complete filmography of the director, a selection of stills from the film, a recent photograph of the director, a full list of artistic and technical credits, dialogue or spotting list in English, Film clips/trailer, digital and three print copies of the poster and the festival & awards history of the film, if applicable.
Additionally, the festival press office requires photos, biography and filmography of the leading actor/actress and a list of the film’s delegates attending the festival as well as press-kits, stills, posters, and video-extracts of the films.

Article 8

The Festival reserves the right to use all materials cited in Article 7 for promotional purposes and for the Festival Catalogue. During the Festival, selected films will be available in the digital video library, open exclusively to accredited film professionals journalists and festival organisations, through GFF’s own closed circuit server. By accepting to participate in GFF, submitters grant permission for their film to be included in the video library, unless otherwise mentioned in the entry form. For this purpose all participants will be requested to make available a QuickTime h.264 version of their film for encoding purposes.

Article 9

The decision regarding the selection of films and the section in which they will be presented belongs exclusively to GFF. The Festival is not obliged to offer comments or reasons for not selecting a film submitted for one of the Festival's programmes. No legal claim to participate in the Festival can be filed.

Article 10

The screening copy of the film should be available in DCP Format (2K/ 4K, DCI-standard) or HD-Cam format. Necessary keys and KDM’s must be provided for encrypted DCPs. Additionally, GFF may accept to screen short films in Apple ProRes format. All films of the GFF programme will be screened in original language with English subtitles.

Article 11

All DCPs of the selected films must arrive in Egypt by September 10, 2018 and must be made available for the entire festival period, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Article 12

GFF will cover the shipping costs for DCPs of all selected films and will be responsible for customs clearance in Egypt. If the print is to be returned to an address different from that of the sender, this has to be clearly indicated to GFF along with the desired date of arrival at the return address. In such cases, the receiving festival or party will cover the cost of the return shipment.

GFF will insure the DCPs of the films selected for screening at the Festival. The insurance will come into effect from the time the film arrives at the GFF Office, and will remain in effect until the print is shipped back or shipped to a third party

In case of damage or loss of the screening DCP during the festival, GFF is only responsible for the cost of producing a new DCP based on current standard laboratory rates.

Article 13

A five-member minimum Feature Narrative Competition Jury will grant the following Awards:

El Gouna Golden Star for Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 50,000)
El Gouna Silver Star for Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 25,000)
El Gouna Bronze Star for Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 15,000)
El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Narrative Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 20,000)
El Gouna Star for the Best Actor ( Trophy and Certificate)
El Gouna Star for the Best Actress (Trophy and Certificate).

The cash award will be shared equally between the director and the main producer of the winning film.

El Gouna Golden Star for Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 30,000)
El Gouna Silver Star for Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 15,000)
El Gouna Bronze Star for Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 7,500)
El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Documentary Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 10,000).

The cash award will be shared equally between the director and the main producer of the winning film.

A five-member Short Films Competition Jury will grant the following Awards:

El Gouna Golden Star for Best Short Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 15,000)
El Gouna Silver Star for Short Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 7,500)
El Gouna Bronze Star for Short Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 4,000)
El Gouna Star for the Best Arab Short Film (Trophy, Certificate and USD 5,000).

All prizes will be awarded to the Director of the winning film.

Cinema for Humanity Audience Award

Audience Award for a film that exemplifies a humanitarian theme (Trophy, Certificate and USD 20,000).

The cash award will be shared equally between the director and the main producer of the winning film.

Article 14

El Gouna Film Festival holds the right to announce awards from additional partners. Submitters of films eligible for these awards will be informed before the beginning of the festival through the GFF website www.elgounafilmfestival.com or our social media posts.

Article 15

The invitation sent to a film selected for participation in the program of the Festival must remain strictly confidential between the Festival and the filmmaker/producer or submitter of the film until the festival makes an official announcement of its programme.

Article 16

The Festival will provide travel to and from El Gouna as well as up to six nights accommodation for the director of a film selected in any of the three Competition sections. The festival may cover the costs of additional members of the crew for the films selected in the Feature Documentary competition and for the cast and crew for Feature Narrative competition.
Award winners are expected to attend the Festival Closing Ceremony to be held on September 28, 2018. Winning films must mention the award as announced, nationally as well as internationally, in all publicity and promotional material.