Arab stars shine on El Gouna Film Festival red carpet

The festival’s opening ceremony also had Mohamed Ramadan performing his new song 'Gaw El Banat'

Mohamed Ramadan went on to perform his new song 'Gaw El Banat' at the opening ceremony of El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt. All photos: El Gouna Film Festival

Syrian actress Nesreen Tafesh

Tunisian actress Hend Sabri

Jordanian actress Riham Abdel Ghafour

Egyptian artist, actress and singer Youssra

Syrian actor Jamal Suliman

Egyptian actor Karim Kassem

Lebanese singer Maya Diab

Lebanese actress and director Zeina Daccache

Emirati media personality Mahira Abdel Aziz

Egyptian actress Yasmine Sabri

Egyptian actress Nardine Farag

Tunisian actress Dorra Zarrouk.

Egyptian actress Dalia El Behery

Egyptian actress Laila Elwi

Egyptian actress Bushra Rozza and her husband, Salem Haykal

Egyptian actress Hana Shiha

Saudi TV personality Lojain Omran

Egyptian actress Passant Shawki and her husband, actor Mohamed Farah

Egyptian actress Rania Youssef

Lebanese actress Nadine Nassib Njeim

Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival kicked off on Thursday night with the usual red carpet glamour, opening ceremony and mingling in the main plaza, with no signs of the fire the day before.

Egyptian superstar Mohamed Ramadan performed his new song Gaw El Banat from Universal Arabic Music with Grammy-winning Moroccan-Swedish music producer RedOne and Moroccan-Dutch singer Nouamane Belaiachi.

Ramadan, known for hit song Ya Habibi with Congolese-French rapper Maitre Gims, announced Gaw El Banat as the official song of El Gouna Film Festival on his Instagram earlier on Thursday.

The fifth edition of the festival will include 75 international and regional feature narratives, short films and documentaries from 44 countries, with eight world and two international premieres. It runs until Friday, October 22.

Samih Sawiris, founder of El Gouna, said this year’s festival started with the added challenge of the fire, but he praised the quick turnaround. “I’ve never been as proud of the people who work with me than in the last 24 hours,” he said.

El Gouna founder Samih Sawiris, right, with artist Youssra. Photo: Nada El Sawy / The National

Also during the opening ceremony, Egyptian actor Sayed Ragab presented a video tribute to the filmmakers and actors who have died this year.

They include Egyptians, such as comedian Samir Ghanem, actress Dalal Abdel Aziz, screenwriter Wahid Hamed and actor Ezzat El Alaili; and international film personalities, such as Tunisian director Moufida Tlatli and French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo.

Festival director Intishal Al Timimi introduced the juries for the feature narrative, feature documentary and short film competitions, as well as the inaugural El Gouna Green Star Award.

The feature narrative competition jury includes Menna Shalaby, who recently became the first Egyptian and Arab actress to be nominated for an Emmy.

Menna Shalaby, jury member of the festival's narrative competition category, arrives at the ceremony. Photo: Nada El Sawy

Egyptian actor Ahmed El Sakka was presented with a Career Achievement Award. In his speech, he dedicated the award to Ghanem, Abdel Aziz and Egyptian businessman Onsi Sawiris, as well as his parents, wife and colleagues.

He said his father taught him humility and how to relate to people no matter how famous you are.

“My father told me, take every aspect of a star – except its distance. Let people reach you and then you will be a true star,” El Sakka said.

Renowned Egyptian actress Lebleba gave a speech honouring Ghanem, who died in May, aged 84, from Covid-19. This was followed by a video and performance celebrating Ghanem's long career.

To conclude the ceremony, Ramadan, wearing a gold jacket, took to the stage with RedOne and Belaiachi for their performance of Gaw El Banat.

Mohamed Ramadan, centre, wore a gold jacket for his performance alongside music producer RedOne and singer Nouamane Belaiachi

The festival has a tradition of being the platform that releases new Arabic songs, right from its inaugural edition in 2017 when 3 Daqat by Abu featuring Youssra became a phenomenal success.