9th El Gouna Film Festival 2026

The Red Sea resort town of El Gouna hosts the 9th edition of the El Gouna Film Festival from 15 to 23 October 2026. The first ten titles announced include Ryusuke Hamaguchi's “All of a Sudden”, Pawel Pawlikowski's “Fatherland”, Lance Hammer's “Queen at Sea” starring Juliette Binoche, and “Yellow Letters”, the Turkish-language Berlinale Golden Bear winner by İlker Çatak. Artistic director Andrew Mohsen says more films will be added to the programme in the coming weeks.

Egyptian actress Mona Zaki will receive the festival's Career Achievement Award at the opening ceremony on 15 October. The festival's main venue is the El Gouna Conference and Culture Center, known as the Festival Plaza, which hosts the opening and closing ceremonies and red carpet premieres; screenings also take place at the three-screen Sea Cinema. The CineGouna industry platform runs alongside the festival with funding, forum and market programmes.

• Dates: 15–23 October 2026
• Opening ceremony: 15 October 2026
• Main venue: El Gouna Conference and Culture Center (Festival Plaza), off Mohamed Ibrahim Kamal St, near Upper Nubia, El Gouna
• Other venue: Sea Cinema (three screens, 649 seats in total)
• First titles announced: All of a Sudden, Fatherland, Queen at Sea, Rose, Yellow Letters and more
• Honorary award: Mona Zaki – Career Achievement Award
• Industry programme: CineGouna (Funding, Forum, Market, Emerge, Series)
• Organizer: El Gouna Film Festival