The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) and Egypt's El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) are entering a strategic partnership. Going forward, the two festivals will collaborate on programming and join forces to strengthen and support each other’s presence within the international film community. The world premiere of the feature documentary DOLPHINS: MY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS at this year’s 22nd edition of the ZFF will mark the beginning of this new alliance. The film follows Swiss marine biologist Angela Ziltener and her decades-long dolphin research conducted in the Red Sea. This documentary will also hold its MENA Premiere at El Gouna Film Festival (October 15 – 23, 2026), just miles from the coastline where she first began her groundbreaking research.
Two Festivals, One Shared Strategy
«Samih Sawiris has been familiar with the Zurich Film Festival for many years, and we've had inspiring strategic conversations. Now we are joining forces», says Christian Jungen, CEO of the Zurich Film Festival. «This is a true win-win partnership. We can help the El Gouna Film Festival gain access to films and talent while they provide us with invaluable logistical support and guide us on our way to gain new perspectives while navigating the film landscape of Africa and the Middle East. We are excited to collaborate with this dynamic and fast-growing festival.»
Sawiris agrees that the partnership will open new horizons for both festivals: «El Gouna Film Festival was founded with a mission to connect regional and international film industries at the intersection of world-class cinema, global dialogue, and social impact», says Samih Sawiris, Founder of El Gouna and Chairman of El Gouna Film Festival Board of Directors. «Partnering with a festival as prestigious as Zurich marks an exciting extension of this mission, reflecting a shared commitment to fostering meaningful exchange across outstanding cinema and industry leaders.»
The new cooperation will not only extend ZFF’s partnership network, but it will also offer GFF a wider platform for joint creative minds connecting the Middle East and African filmmakers with their European counterparts.
«For the better part of a decade, El Gouna Film Festival has worked tirelessly to give filmmakers in this part of the world a platform for them to collaborate and create films that share stories from the region with the rest of the world», says Andrew Mohsen, Artistic Director of GFF. «Moreover, we have worked to provide countless opportunities for up-and-coming filmmakers to develop their skills and meet with industry leaders from around the world. This partnership with ZFF will facilitate the creation of synergies with others in the industry from various parts of the world.»
«As a film festival, building bridges is one of our key functions», says Reta Guetg, Festival Director of the Zurich Film Festival. «We want to connect people who share our beliefs and utilize films as powerful ambassadors of cultural exchange. That is exactly what this new friendship and partnership stands for.»
Both festivals share the belief that independence and collaboration are not opposing forces. Instead, they are essential to working side by side with major studios, global streaming platforms and the international film community as equal partners. In concrete terms, this means that both festivals will exchange films and talents.
The collaboration between the two film festivals will fulfill their joint long-standing goal of building cross-cultural bridges for filmmakers in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa and their counterparts in Europe.
DOLPHINS: MY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: World Premiere at ZFF, Next Stop: El Gouna
The first film presented jointly by the two festivals connects Zurich and the Red Sea by focusing on nature: The feature documentary DOLPHINS: MY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS follows Swiss marine biologist Angela Ziltener, who has been studying the behaviors of wild dolphin populations in the waters off the Egyptian town of El Gouna for years.
Directed by Barny Revill and produced by world-leading natural history producer Silverback Films, with Keith Scholey as executive producer, the film traces Angela's more than 15-year-long diving journey alongside wild dolphins, slowly gaining a rare window into their lives. What began as a scientific study became something far more personal, as Angela found herself drawn into the dolphins' world and faced with a profound question: who was really observing whom?
Set within the extraordinary coral reefs of Egypt's Red Sea, DOLPHINS: MY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS follows Angela's emotional journey between science and intuition, revealing surprising behaviors, remarkable discoveries and an intimate connection with one of the planet's most intelligent and enigmatic animals. Angela Ziltener is a Swiss wildlife biologist and conservationist, as well as the Founder and President of the Dolphin Watch Alliance. She is internationally recognised for her long-term research on wild dolphins in Egypt's Northern Red Sea.
DOLPHINS: MY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS will celebrate its world premiere at the 22nd Zurich Film Festival before its Middle East premiere at the El Gouna Film Festival, just miles from the coastline where Angela Ziltener first began her groundbreaking research.
You can find the official media release here.
