The El Gouna Film Festival, founded in an attempt to promote Arab cinema production and position Egypt as a global film-making powerhouse, returned for its eighth edition. There are more eyes than ever on the red carpet as the festival grows in international acclaim. This year, local female directors stole the show, premiering films representative of the experiences of MENA women. These three directors portrayed different perspectives on womanhood and showed what women have to offer the region’s cinema industry.
Sarah Goher – Happy Birthday
The decision to have Happy Birthday open El Gouna 2025, after its successful premiere at Tribeca Film Festival, is a powerful statement; this is the film meant to represent Egypt’s contributions to international cinema. The film follows a young housemaid, Toha, determined to find belonging in her employer’s household by fully committing herself to planning the daughter, Nelly’s, birthday party. Although the film centers on child exploitation, privilege, and classism within Egyptian society, the portrayal of Toha is raw and realistic. Rather than being a spectacle and political vessel, she is shown as exactly what she is: a child whose innocence and naivety set her up for inevitable disappointment inherent to her position in society.
Sharon Hakim – The Devil and the Bicycle
Hakim, a Paris and New York-educated director, premiered a short film coming-of-age story about a 13-year-old Lebanese girl, Yasma. The film portrays a uniquely feminine experience of religion, sexuality, and adolescence as she prepares for her first communion. This short film tells a story that could only be told by a woman, an internal conflict with innocence, religious purity, and sanctity. The incorporation of religion, Yasma being the product of an interfaith marriage, is introspective rather than oppressive. Middle Eastern cultures are heavily interwoven with the deep history of Abrahamic faiths, a nuance that shapes society and is inseparable from the experiences of Arab women. Yasma’s experience acts as a question of belief and self-discovery, an intimate and emotional journey.
Youmna Khattab – 50 Meters
Taking place entirely in a Cairo community swimming pool, through this documentary-style film, Khattab portrays a tenuous father-daughter relationship. Premiering internationally at CPH:DOX, Khattab features her own father in the film in an attempt to become closer to him. While the physical distance between the two is small, they may as well be emotional worlds apart. Their relationship, on a greater and individual scale, is shaped by culture, society, and the patriarchy. These are elements of everyday life, things that integrate themselves into years of family dynamics and rituals. As they discuss mortality, loneliness, and parenthood, and reflect on their relationship, the two attempt to bridge the gap between them.
