The El-Gouna Film Festival has revealed the details of its second edition, set to open on 20 September in the sea side resort town of El-Gouna. This year, 80 total films will be screened, up from 70 in the first edition last year. 15 films will be participating in the Feature Narrative competition, and 12 others are competing in the Feature Documentary section. The short film competition will include 23 films, while five titles will feature in the special retrospectives program. An additional 25 films will be screened outside of competition. The festival's Creative Achievement Award will be granted to the iconic Egyptian director Daoud Abdel Sayed and the Tunisian producer Dora Bouchoucha. The number of participating films in the CineGouna Platform is twice as many as the last edition, with 12 titles in development and six in post-production. The total dollar amount of the platform's awards has also doubled to $150,000 this year. In addition to the film screenings, the festival will pay tribute to three iconic directors; Youssef Chahine from Egypt, Federico Fellini from Italy, and Ingmar Bergman from Sweden. In honour of the 10th anniversary of Chahine's passing, there will be "a spectacle featuring scenes from (Chahine's) films accompanied by a live performance of selections from his films scores, played by a 50-piece orchestra led by Maestro Hisham Gabr," according to the press conference. An exhibition of Fillini's film posters will commemorate the 25th anniversary of his passing. Two films for Bergman will be screened, as well as photographs related to his career in an exhibition collaborated with the Swedish Embassy and the Swedish Film Institute. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
