Egypt's El Gouna Film Festival kicks off amid COVID-19 precautions

Source: Xinhua| 2020-10-24 04:41:23|Editor: huaxia

EGYPT-HURGHADA-FILM FESTIVAL-OPENING

Actress Tara Emad poses for photos on the red carpet during the fourth edition of El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) in Hurghada, Egypt, Oct. 23, 2020. The fourth edition of GFF kicked off Friday night in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of El Gouna with tight anti-COVID-19 preventive measures in place. The festival, scheduled between Oct. 23 to Oct. 31, will screen 65 films, including 11 world premieres, and feature a multitude of workshops and panels. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

HURGHADA, Egypt, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The fourth edition of El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) kicked off Friday night in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of El Gouna with tight anti-COVID-19 preventive measures in place.

The festival, scheduled between Oct. 23 to Oct. 31, will screen 65 films, including 11 world premieres, and feature a multitude of workshops and panels.

The red carpet was designed in a way that helped maintain social distancing, with the festival's opening ceremony held in a new location that is twice bigger than the one used in the past three editions.

The festival managed to attract the best titles from around the world and some of them were present in Venice, Toronto and San Sebastian festivals.

"We are very happy and proud that we managed to organize the fourth edition of the GFF," Naguib Sawiris, Egyptian business tycoon and the GFF co-founder, told Xinhua on the red carpet.

He expressed hope that this year's edition will be as successful as the previous ones, noting it was not easy to organize the festival amid the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

For his part, iconic Egyptian actor Sameer Sabry said holding this year's edition of the GFF represents a boost to filmmaking amid the recession in cinema industry caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

"Organizing the festival was a big challenge, but the founders of the gala were up to the challenge and managed to bring us back on the red carpet," Sabry told Xinhua.

As one of the leading festivals in the Middle East, the GFF aims to showcase a wide variety of films while fostering better communication between cultures through the art of filmmaking.

The festival is also meant to connect filmmakers from the region with their international counterparts. Enditem

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