The El Gouna Film Festival has announced the highlights of the CineGouna Platform events, which kicked off on October 16 and will run through October 22, 2026.

These sessions take diverse formats, including filmmaking masterclasses, workshops, and panel discussions featuring local, regional, and international experts, alongside candid conversations addressing the challenges and opportunities facing the film industry.

Amr Mansi, Co-founder and Executive Director of the El Gouna Film Festival, said: "El Gouna Film Festival is renowned for its cinematic competitions, but throughout its duration, it also features a diverse array of sessions dedicated to the film industry, designed to shed light on the challenges facing this sector alongside the growth opportunities available within it." He added: "These sessions provide an environment that enables filmmakers and attendees to engage in open dialogues with local, regional, and international experts. They also grant emerging filmmakers the chance for direct learning through one-on-one meetings with figures who possess extensive industry experience, helping them better understand the mechanics of the film industry and its various subsectors."

In its ninth edition, the El Gouna Film Festival is hosting 40 multifaceted working sessions, including 8 masterclasses, 22 panel discussions, 3 case studies, 3 lectures, and 2 workshops, in addition to a talent showcase event. These sessions cover a wide array of themes, led by the festival’s signature program "Cinema for Humanity," alongside highlighting the role of cinema as a collective tool enabling individuals and communities to document their stories for future generations. Other sessions explore a broad spectrum of topics, including commercial aspects of cinema, gender roles within the industry, and various technical dimensions of the craft.

Ahmed Amer, Head of the CineGouna Platform, stated: "We have been keen to address a wide range of filmmaking aspects across multiple formats, allowing festival-goers to engage with their peers in ways that enable them to gain genuine industry insights. In preparing these sessions, our approach has always started with identifying real-world industry challenges on the ground, taking into account the feedback and insights gathered from past editions. Subsequently, we bring in specialized experts from Egypt, the region, and worldwide to present a comprehensive global perspective on the challenges and opportunities, exploring practical ways to tackle difficulties while capitalizing on opportunities."

Mona Zaki, recipient of this year's Career Achievement Award, delivered the first masterclass, titled "Beyond Stardom." Producer Mohamed Meshish will host a session on crafting television drama, while international expert Angus Finney will moderate a session examining artificial intelligence and its impact on filmmaking. Lucas Eskin will also lead a session on action sequences, characters, and camera work.

Acclaimed director Yousry Nasrallah will present a session on the necessity of reinventing cinema, while British director Joanna Hogg—President of the Feature Narrative Competition Jury—will conduct a session on techniques for translating reality and lived experience into cinematic form. Finally, Faouzi Bensaïdi will lead a session exploring the art of cinematic world-building.

A diverse slate of panel discussions is scheduled, addressing extensive topics including: "The Role of Film Festivals Today, the Evolving Role of Producers in the Industry, Intellectual Property Rights, Opportunities and Challenges of Co-Production in the MENA Region, the Concept of the 'Auteur' in Cultural Context, and Financing the Future of Cinema."

The programming also includes panels focused on highly specific industry dimensions, such as the hurdles faced by female directors, gender roles and their correlation with box office returns, and bridging the divide between critically acclaimed films and commercial box-office hits.

A dedicated panel discussion will center on the impact of the docudrama "The Voice of Hind Rajab," the production process behind documentaries such as "The American Doctor," and the broader discussion surrounding the conflict in Palestine. Under the "Cinema for Humanity: Archiving Narratives" track, several sessions will take place, including a workshop examining how to archive daily life details to ensure communities' collective stories are preserved for future generations, while exploring methods for archival retrieval, utilization, and their influence on public perceptions of causes, communities, and conflicts.

Specialized discussions on short films will also be featured, raising questions about who gets the opportunity to create the next short film and how to adopt a mindset tailored to short filmmaking. Furthermore, two dedicated panels will analyze the work of director Mohamed Khan; the first examining the presence of the "unconventional male protagonist" in his filmography, and the second exploring the female characters that form the core of many of his works.

Andrew Mohsen, Artistic Director of the El Gouna Film Festival, said: "In every edition of the festival, we start planning panel discussions by asking questions about the pressing issues concerning the film sector and the world we live in; we seek topics that spark constructive dialogue and encourage self-reflection among festival attendees. This is precisely what makes these sessions indispensable to industry professionals. Our ultimate aim is for everyone to leave the festival having enriched their experience by watching world-class cinema and engaging in fruitful discussions about where the film industry is heading today."