Sixth El Gouna Film Festival postponed to 2023

Organisers said current global challenges were an impediment to putting on the event this year

Egyptian tycoon and El Gouna Film Festival co-founder Naguib Sawiris. AFP

The sixth El Gouna Film Festival has been postponed until next year, the event's organisers said on Sunday.

In a Facebook post on the festival’s official page, organisers said that amid “current global challenges”, they are not sure they can put on an event worthy of its role in the region’s art and tourism sectors.

“In view of current global challenges, and with the consequent need to develop an integrated strategy that will live up to the growing expectations of the festival as a leading platform for film, art, and culture, the decision was made to postpone the festival,” read the statement.

El Gouna Film Festival was set to take place in mid-October in the Red Sea resort city, however, according to Sunday’s statement, the organising committee will reconvene in the coming months to announce preparations for the sixth event, which will now take place in 2023.

Although relatively new, having been launched in 2017, El Gouna Film Festival has managed to become one of the most followed on the annual calendar in Egypt, with millions watching red carpet happenings and interviews from the event. It is also popular among Egypt's youth and attracts celebrities who turn out in their more daring fashions.

It has also hosted a number of Hollywood A-listers over the years, such as Patrick Dempsey, Sylvester Stallone and Owen Wilson.