Hurghada Youth Cinema Festival to Open in September With Tribute to Composer Hany Shenoda
The fourth Hurghada Festival for Youth Cinema opens on 10 September at the Hurghada Cultural Palace with a tribute to composer Hany Shenoda, who died on 20 July aged 83. Entries close on 10 August.
1 August 2026
The fourth Hurghada Festival for Youth Cinema will open on 10 September at the Hurghada Cultural Palace with a musical tribute to composer Hany Shenoda, who died on Monday 20 July at the age of 83, Al-Ahram's Gate and Shorouk reported.
The segment brings together his best-known film scores — Al-Harif, Al-Mashbouh, Shams El-Zanaty, La Aza'a Lel-Sayedat, Esabet Hamada we Toto and El-Avocato — performed by musician Radwan Abdel Karim. Al-Ahram's Gate said the festival has taken the poster of Al-Harif as this year's emblem.
Festival president, screenwriter Mohamed El-Bassousy, said Shenoda contributed significantly to Egyptian cinema through compositions that were instrumental in the success of the films he scored. Festival director, journalist Qadri El-Haggar, said the music travelled beyond the Arab world and was performed at the 2020 Golden Globes ceremony, Shorouk reported.
The edition also marks ten years since the death of director Mohamed Khan, according to Al-Ahram's Gate.
The festival runs 10-15 September under the patronage of Culture Minister Jehan Zaki and Red Sea governor Walid Abdel-Azim El-Barqi, Youm7 reported in June, with Hisham Attwa, head of the General Authority for Culture Palaces, among the organisers. The cultural palace reopened after a full renovation with an 850-seat theatre.
The programme covers competition screenings, workshops in screenwriting, cinematography and directing, and seminars with honourees and filmmakers. Organisers also plan a year-round Hurghada Cinema Festival Club.
Entries close on 10 August, Shorouk reported. Competitions cover features over 60 minutes, shorts and student films up to 30 minutes, and tourism films; entries must be 2025 or 2026 productions, must not have screened at another Egyptian festival, and must be a director's first or second film or address youth themes.
Correction: an earlier version of this article said the festival had already opened. The tribute is planned for the opening ceremony on 10 September.