El Gouna Film Festival Returns to Cannes with Egyptian Pavilion

There’s something quietly powerful about El Gouna Film Festival’s return to the Croisette this May, anchored by an Egyptian Pavilion. Not with fanfare, but with intent. As the festival becomes part of the fabric of the Cannes Film Festival, taking place May 13th to 24th, 2025, its presence speaks not just to visibility but to Arab cinema’s growing voice in global cinema.

From a dedicated pavilion at the Marché du Film to a slate of panels and industry conversations, El Gouna Film Festival, joining forces with the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) and the Egypt Film Commission (EFC), arrives not as a guest but as a co-author in shaping what comes next.

At the heart of this Egyptian delegation is a flagship panel on May 15th that brings long-standing voices of Egyptian cinema into the conversation, not as subjects, but as storytellers in their own right. “Egypt: Arab World’s Blockbuster Nation,” co-hosted with the Arab Cinema Centre, features legendary actress Youssra, El Gouna Film Festival President Samih Sawiris, Cairo International Film Festival President Hussein Fahmy, El Gouna Film Festival Co-founder Amr Mansi, Egypt Film Commission Managing Director Ahmed Badawi, independent director Morad Mostafa, and producer Sawsan Yusuf. It’s a conversation that marks a shift, where box office success and creative ambition are no longer at odds, but in dialogue.

“Our presence within the Egypt Pavilion at Cannes underscores the power of collaboration. Together with CIFF and EFC, we aim to amplify the voice of Egyptian cinema and forge meaningful connections with the global film community,” Amr Mansi, co-founder GFF, tells CairoScene.

Across five public events, the Egyptian Pavilion explores co-production, regional filmmaking, and cross-cultural collaboration. Panels like “Filming in Egypt” and “Co-Producing With and Within the Arab World” reimagine Egypt not as a cinematic backdrop, but as a site of both creative energy and industrial opportunity. “Bridging the American & Egyptian Film Industries” and “Spotlight on Rising Arab Filmmakers” reveal an industry less focused on proving itself and more on defining its own terms.

This presence also extends to the official Cannes selection. ‘Aisha Can’t Fly Away’, directed by Morad Mostafa and produced by Sawsan Youssef, premieres in the Un Certain Regard section, a historic win for a project that first found its footing at GFF’s CineGouna Platform in 2021. The film, a multi-national co-production, follows a Somali domestic worker in Cairo, mapping the intimate terrain of invisibility and belonging.

GFF’s journey at Cannes culminates with its partnership in the Marché du Film’s Co-Production Night, a gathering built not on red carpets, but on exchange. It’s a space that mirrors GFF’s larger purpose: to foster collaboration and to expand what global cinema looks like and who gets to shape it.