DUBAI: Following a one-year hiatus, Egypt’s El-Gouna Film Festival announced that this year’s edition will take place from Oct. 13- 20 at the Red Sea resort town. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @arabnews.lifestyle In July 2022, the festival released a statement explaining that the 2022 edition will be cancelled due to the “current global challenges” that lead to a “consequent need to develop an integrated strategy that will live up to the growing expectations of the festival as a leading platform for film, art and culture.” The festival’s artistic director Intishal Al-Timimi said in a statement that the one-year break “allowed GFF’s management to reflect on the artistic and organizational aspects of the festival and to focus on consolidating the role GFF has played so far in the development of the film industry regionally and internationally.” The festival is held under the patronage of El Gouna founder Samih Sawiris. In a released statement, he said: “I believe that El Gouna Film Festival has been an important artistic, creative, and cinematic activity in the region. “I am committed to nurturing it so that it may continue to contribute to spurring growth of film and filmmakers: locally, regionally and globally. With the return of festival, I renew my faith in the belief that the arts and creativity are critical to the development of society,” he added. Since the festival’s launch in 2017, it has become one of the leading art and film events in the Middle East. It aims to showcase a wide variety of regional and international films to “foster better communication between cultures through the art of filmmaking,” according to the festival’s website. It is also a meeting hub for filmmakers from around the world.