El Gouna Film Festival, in its sixth edition taking place from December 14 to 21, has announced a collaboration with O West, Invest-Gate reports.

As part of this collaboration, the festival has introduced a Seed Funding initiative, which marks the first phase of a fund valued at EGP 8 mn. The initiative is specifically aimed at providing crucial financial support to Egyptian and Arab filmmakers, enabling them to kickstart the development of their film projects.

The primary objective of the fund is to discover new cinematic voices that have crafted original stories by providing them with initial funding. With this support, filmmakers and producers can then leverage their projects to engage with institutions, producers, funding programs, and grants in order to secure additional financial support.

Marianne Khoury, the Artistic Director of El Gouna Film Festival, emphasized the significance of this initiative in supporting filmmakers with powerful and exceptional stories, enabling them to showcase their work to the world. The fund will support 10 film projects, with the first phase dedicated to developing full-length feature films, documentaries, and short films. This initiative addresses the urgent need for producing original content and keeping pace with the high demand from prominent entities in the cinema industry today.

Amr Mansi, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of El Gouna Film Festival, expressed his enthusiasm for the new initiative and highlighted the success of the festival’s platform since its inception. He emphasized the festival’s aim to extend its positive impact on the industry throughout the year, not just during the festival period.