El Gouna Film Festival Names 5 Arab Filmmakers to Rising Stars

Five filmmakers from across the Middle East will receive career support through the third cohort of the CineGouna Emerge program, according to an announcement from Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival. The initiative targets directors, writers and technical crew members working in the region who are preparing to move into larger-scale productions.

The selected participants 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. Deadline first reported the roster.

CineGouna Emerge functions as a talent pipeline rather than a traditional festival sidebar. Launched to address chronic funding gaps for Arab cinema professionals, the program pairs emerging voices with international producers, sales agents and festival programmers. Participants typically receive one-on-one mentorship sessions, pitch training and access to financing forums during the event.

The Red Sea resort town of El Gouna has hosted the festival since 2017, positioning itself as a primary market for Middle Eastern and North African film projects. Industry labs attached to the festival have previously helped launch features that went on to screen at Cannes, Venice and Toronto. That track record makes selection for the Rising Stars program a closely watched indicator of which regional talents international distributors are likely to acquire next.

Saudi Arabia’s inclusion reflects broader shifts in Gulf cinema infrastructure. Riyadh has dramatically expanded its film commission incentives over the past three years, yet domestic development programs for writers and directors remain limited compared to the capital flowing into physical production facilities. AlSoghayer’s selection points to growing crossover between state-backed Saudi media initiatives and independent festival circuits.

Bkerat and Abdi represent a technical focus rarely highlighted in similar talent programs. While most regional incubators prioritize directors and screenwriters, CineGouna Emerge has increasingly recruited cinematographers, editors and producers. Abdi works across three distinct roles — Syrian DoP, editor and director — a multi-hyphenate profile common among filmmakers operating in countries where below-the-line crews are scarce.

Dnewar and Rammal join a growing list of Palestinian and Egyptian directors using European co-production frameworks to finance projects that local studios decline. Egypt remains the largest Arabic-language film market by volume, but independent directors frequently rely on festival labs to secure completion funds.

The third cohort will convene during the upcoming edition of the El Gouna Film Festival. Exact dates for the program’s workshops have not been published.