# El Gouna’s CineGouna Expands Industry Push: ‘We Want to Give Every Filmmaker a Chance’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/el-gounas-cinegouna-expands-industry-push-we-want-to-give-every-filmmaker-a-chance/
- Published: 2026-10-23T19:23:37+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-23T20:26:09+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/global/el-gouna-cinegouna-arab-film-industry-programs-1236929945/
- Topics: Entertainment, Film

## Key points

- More than 320 Arab projects applied for CineGouna funding.
- The programme awarded over $350,000 in cash and services.
- New Egyptian Voices strand will train four additional projects.

## Summary

CineGouna, the industry programme of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival, is expanding its support for Arab filmmakers amid gaps in local funding and co-production opportunities. More than 320 projects applied for funding this year, and the festival added Egyptian Voices to give four more Egyptian projects training in pitching, packaging and co-production.

CineGouna awarded more than $350,000 in cash and services across 40 awards to 16 of 19 participating projects, which also held more than 140 industry meetings. Its Emerge programme has supported more than 300 participants; this year’s group represents 16 nationalities and 20 of Egypt’s 27 governorates. Initiatives include mentoring, workshops and industry connections, alongside funding and festival discussions.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.