A Cinematic Journey Through Time at the El Gouna Film Festival: Highlights and Insights

In the heart of El Gouna, where the sands whisper tales of yore, the El Gouna Film Festival unfurls its vibrant tapestry, celebrating a remarkable centenary that honors Youssef Chahine, a luminary whose vision dared to illuminate the shadows of Arab cinema. More than a mere director, Chahine was an alchemist of stories, conjuring forth questions that echoed through the corridors of time, daring to tread where few had ventured.

This celebration transcends the ordinary, a luminous journey that defies the constraints of time and space. Imagine a train, a vessel of dreams and flickering memories, gliding through realms where light dances with motion. Each station along this ethereal track speaks in myriad tongues yet shares a singular truth: cinema is, and forever shall be, an act of life and defiance against the silence of the mundane.

What unfolds here is not merely a centenary of accolades, but a living, breathing homage that thrives and evolves with every heartbeat. It commences on the shores of El Gouna, in an open expanse that mirrors the essence of his cinematic legacy. Like Chahine himself, it flows seamlessly from one thought to another, traversing the globe: from Montpellier in France, where aspiring filmmakers embraced Chahine as their beacon to rediscover the magic of cinema, to Japan and Switzerland, and onward to the grand stages of film festivals worldwide, where he is not a fleeting guest but a persistent echo, returning in every frame and every question posed.

Youssef Chahine was a filmmaker who constructed, through his films, a staircase of dreams that we can all ascend to view the world through his perspective. Each film was an extension of his restless, questioning nature, from Cairo Station to The Other, from Alexandria… Why? to An Egyptian Story, from The Land to The Sparrow. Chahine pursued his right to dream, to search for identity and the body, to question the self and society, youth and old age, submission and revolution, through a sensitive camera that sought emotional provocation rather than sterile documentation. His films crafted a cinematic language that was both unsettling and revolutionary, transforming even the harshest moments into magical pulsations.

The El Gouna Film Festival unfurls its grand tapestry to honor a centenary of cinematic brilliance, a tribute to a maestro who reimagined the art of storytelling and shattered the confines of narrative. Youssef Chahine — a luminary born under the sun of Alexandria on January 25, 1926 — graces our screens once more, his spirit intertwining with the hearts of audiences anew. His legacy, vibrant and alive, invites us into a “Chahinian” moment, a journey unfolding along three distinct paths, each beckoning us to engage with his cinema through diverse lenses and interactive forms. This centenary does not merely revisit Chahine’s legacy as a closed chapter; rather, it opens a dialogue — evoking not just a filmmaker, but an entire universe of stories.

“Cairo Station”: An Exhibition Redefining Cinema and Space

At the heart of the exhibition lies the vision of liberating the image, setting it free within an interactive realm where memory dances with place. As visitors cross the threshold into the Cairo Station exhibition, they embark on a metamorphosis from passive observers to active participants — enveloped in a Chahinian odyssey, akin to a train whose tracks are woven with tales and whose stops are illuminated by films. Within this vibrant space, his filmography transcends the ordinary, transformed into living visual poetry, thanks to the collaboration between filmmaker and producer Marianne Khoury, the Artistic Director of El Gouna Film Festival, and architect Shereen Farghal, founder and director of JYStudios, alongside the steadfast support of Misr International Films and the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, the festival's impact partner.

This exhibition unfolds as a sensory tapestry, inspired by the rich visual and conceptual layers of Cairo Station, intertwining cinematic fragments from Chahine’s oeuvre to weave an alternative, enchanting narrative. It conjures his presence as if he walks beside you, guiding your footsteps on a personal pilgrimage to rediscover his cinema — a journey that begins the moment you depart.

The creative pulse of the Cairo Station exhibition beats with the ambition to transform the visual experience from one constrained by space into a realm defined by it — reshaping the act of viewing into a spatial and interactive communion. It reimagines Chahine’s cinema within a new dimension, morphing it into a living, luminous expanse of possibilities. By altering the medium through which we engage with cinema, we are invited to rediscover film as an art form — to feel its essence anew, both in body and spirit.

From “Alexandria… Again and Forever” to a Generation Raised in His Shadow

Chahine makes his triumphant return to the silver screen as the El Gouna Film Festival showcases one of his most intimate masterpieces, Alexandria… Again and Forever — the third chapter in his autobiographical trilogy, a cornerstone of Arab cinema, where he boldly declared his life a worthy tale. Alongside this cinematic gem, four works by Arab filmmakers, inspired by Chahine’s existential yearning, rebellion, and audacious creativity, will grace the screen — filmmakers who, instead of merely walking in his shadow, emerged as devoted disciples, mastering the language of confession. They have inherited from him the conviction that autobiography is not mere revelation but a form of resistance, and that storytelling is not a luxury, but a vital necessity for survival.

Films screened in the Youssef Chahine program alongside Alexandria… Again and Forever:

• Nahla (1979) – Farouk Beloufa (Algeria)

• The Young Arab Cinema (1987) – Ferid Boughedir (Tunisia)

• Halfaouine (1990) – Ferid Boughedir (Tunisia)

• Bye-Bye Souirty (1998) – Daoud Aoulad-Syad (Morocco)