In Egypt, the El Gouna Film Festival is taking place. And on the sidelines, major workshops and forums are taking place. The CineGouna platform is a hub to connect young filmmakers with professionals and engage Arabs with international directors and producers. With tens of thousands of dollars in prize money, the platform has attracted many filmmakers who hope to get financial support for their productions. Here is Adel EL Mahrouky with more.

ADEL EL MAHROUKY CAIRO, EGYPT "Far from the glamorous screening nights, one of the strong edges of El Gouna film festival, is the Cinegouna platform, which is a strong hub to connect filmmakers with investors. An opportunity that has attracted many filmmakers from all over the world to come here to complete their work or pitch their new ideas."

EL Gouna film festival aims to be a catalyst for Cinema development in Egypt and the Arab world. It's why it has created the Cinegouna platform to be the industry segment for the festival. During that platform, an international committee selects 12 projects in development and six films in post-production.

CineGouna then assigns a professional mentor who leads these fresh productions to get screened in their best form. That has attracted young filmmakers from all over the world.

MOHAMED SABBAH LEBANESE FILMMAKER "We're in a period where, sadly, a lot of the big festivals in the Arab World do not exist anymore. So we're very happy that EL Gouna Festival is happening now. Because we have the chance to train and pitch and then eventually come back with the film later on to screen it here in EL Gouna for the Arab audience. It's very important."

MARIE BALDUCHI FRENCH FILMMAKER "I'm part of this platform because we were at the Venice film festival, and we were presenting a film. We were invited to EL Gouna film festival and I think it's a huge opportunity to meet people, and to be in a very inspiring environment, and also to find investors or people who can help us finish the film."

The platform is divided into two programs, the CineGouna Bridge, which is a hub for dialogue between different cinematic industries and an opportunity for Arab filmmakers to connect with their international counterparts.

The CineGouna Springboard is a co-production lab that helps Arab directors and producers find financial and creative support. Here ideas and dreams of young spirited filmmakers get processed to become a production of international standards.

BOUSHRA FRENCH FILMMAKER "Last year we've attracted many projects in our Cinegouna platform. And we're very happy that two of these projects are participating in the official competition this year. One is a short film called fork and knife and the other one is Youmeddine, which was also part of the official competition in Cannes film festival. We want to prove that we don't only say things, we actually make them happen, and it becomes real."

A day before the closing ceremony, Cinegouna will be distributing its awards. 12 awards will be given to the most outstanding teams, with a total financial prizes of 150 thousand US dollars. AMA, CGTN, EL Gouna, Egypt.