Launched in 2017 by Egypt's well-established business guru Naguib Sawiris, El Gouna Film Festival, becoming one of the Arab world's most prestigious film festivals nowadays. The festival came to fill in the gap of the shutdown of the Dubai International Film Festival, hosting film screenings, seminars, and panel discussions with high-profile film professionals, including Intishal Al-Tamimi, Festival Director, and Amir Ramses, the festival's Artistic Director.