The closing ceremony of the CineGouna platform took place on Thursday at the Marina Theatre, and the awards were announced for the projects that were competing for creative and financial support in both development and post-production. The ceremony was attended by festival director Intishal El-Tamimi, the festival's COO Bushra, and CineGouna Bridge Manager Size Zayed, and the awards were distributed by Senior Springboard Coordinator of the CineGouna Platform Nada Howeidy. The first award, worth $15,000, was awarded to a project in development, Harvest, directed by Ely Dagher from Lebanon. This project also won the award presented by the Drosos Foundation by Omar Sameh, worth another $15,000. The second project from Lebanon, A Long Breath, directed by Remi Itani and currently in post-production, also won $15,000. A project that collected a number of awards was from Egypt: Straight to The Goal, a film in development directed by Tamer Ashry. The project won awards from the sponsors iProduction for $10,000, Ergo Media Ventures for $10,000, and Waraq powered by Magic Beans for $5,000. The project also won $15,000 from Film Independent and from the US embassy and the chance for its screenwriter to participate in the Film Independent Forum Independent Spirit Awards Residency. The project was also offered unlimited location shooting service, provided by Dakhli West El Balad, presented by Moshira Adel. El Taher Media Production sponsored an award of $15,000 presented to Yalla, Baba! a project in development from Lebanon and directed by Angie Obeid. Mahmoud El-Bat from the Arab Radio & Television Network (ART) awarded $15,000 to the Jordanian film Daughters of Abdul-Rahman, a film in development directed by Zaid Abu Hamdan. It also won the Rotana Award of $10,000, presented by Lina Al-Rifai. The Synergy Films award of $10,000 went to a film in development from Egypt called The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, presented by Al Timimi. It also won a $15,000 sponsorship from Film Independent and the US embassy, for their creative producer to participate in the Film Independent Forum Residency. Egyptian film in post-production Captains of Zaatari, directed by Ali Al-Arabi, won an award of $10,000 from New Century Production and another award of $10,000 from Cell Creative Media Solutions. They also won the chance to participate in IEFTA's Global Film Expression Initiative and a sponsorship to attend a partnering festival lab or workshop. The Moroccan project in development Plum Season, directed by Rim Mejdi, also won the IEFTA sponsorship. Lagoonie Film Production offered an award of $10,000, presented by Mohamed El Aad, to the Tunisian film in development Severed Head, directed by Lotfi Achour. The highest award of $50,000 was sponsored by OSN and given to the Moroccan film in development Mica, directed by Ismaël Ferroukhi. Cell Post Production presented an award of $10,000 and their post-production services to the Moroccan film in post-production Our Dark 70s, directed by Ali Essafi. The Palestinian film in development Looking for Saadah, directed by Areen Omari, won $5,000 sponsored by Art City for Cinema and TV production. 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
