Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival has unveiled the third cohort of emerging talents selected for its CineGouna Emerge Rising Stars program — spotlighting five young filmmakers from across the Arab world as the festival’s ninth edition gets underway.
Rising Stars (Credits: El Gouna Film Festival)
The newly announced talents are Egyptian director Abdallah Dnewar, Saudi Arabian writer-director Razan AlSoghayer, Palestinian filmmaker Omar Rammal, Palestinian Jordanian director-producer Asmahan Bkerat, and Syrian DoP, editor and director Rama Abdi.
A Launchpad for MENA’s Next Generation
Launched in 2024, the Rising Stars initiative is part of El Gouna’s CineGouna Emerge program — the festival’s flagship talent development strand aimed at nurturing the next generation of MENA film professionals. CineGouna Emerge itself is one arm of El Gouna’s broader CineGouna industry program, sitting alongside the Forum talks lineup, the Funding project showcase, the Market, and the newly introduced Series focus.
The selection process casts a wide net across the region, and this year’s five-person cohort spans directing, writing, producing, cinematography, and editing — a reflection of the program’s ambition to build the full creative infrastructure of Arab cinema, not just its directors.
Part of a Bigger Ninth Edition
The announcement arrives as El Gouna’s ninth edition runs from October 15 to 23, 2026 — the first edition under new artistic director Andrew Mohsen. The festival has expanded its selection to around 70 films with a stronger presence of Arabic-language productions, while CineGouna Emerge officially launched its fourth edition on October 16 with working sessions running through October 22.
The CineGouna Funding arm continues to back Arab cinema too, with financial and in-kind awards exceeding $300,000 across development and post-production tracks. For the five new Rising Stars, the spotlight at El Gouna could be the first step toward the kind of festival runs their predecessors have enjoyed — past participants have gone on to screen at Cannes, Sundance, TIFF, and beyond.
Also Read: El Gouna Film Festival 2026: 10 Films to Track, From Cannes Prizewinners to Rising Arab Voices
Source: Deadline — read the full story there.
