Moroccan film 'Casablanca Beats' premieres on day two of El Gouna Film Festival

The event is taking place on Egypt's Red Sea coast until October 22

Tunisian actress Dorra Zarrouk arrives for the screening of 'Casablanca Beats' at the Festival Plaza, on 2nd day at 5th edition of El Gouna Film Festival, in El Gouna, Egypt, on October 15, 2021. Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo / El Gouna Film Festival (Photo by Ammar ABD RABBO / El Gouna Film Festival / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / EL GOUNA FILM FESTIVAL - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS -

Jordanian actress and TV host Mais Hamdan arrives for the screening of 'Casablanca Beats'. AFP

Syrian actress Nesreen Tafesh arrives for the screening of 'Casablanca Beats' at the Festival Plaza. AFP

Nadine Samra, chief business officer at Zee Entertainment, arrives for the screening of 'Casablanca Beats'. AFP

Egyptian actress Heba el-Sisi arrives for the screening of 'Casablanca Beats' . AFP

Egyptian actress Amina Khalil arrives for the screening of 'Casablanca Beats'. AFP

Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch’s Casablanca Beats was the first red carpet screening on day two of El Gouna Film Festival, which is running until October 22.

It was the first fully Moroccan film to compete for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere in July. The film is based on Ayouch’s own experiences opening a cultural centre for young people in Sidi Moumen, a poverty-stricken area on the outskirts of Casablanca.

Casablanca Beats is one of 16 feature narratives competing at the festival on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. There are 10 documentaries and 23 short films in competition.

Scroll through the gallery below to see pictures from El Gouna Film Festival's opening ceremony.

The festival, running for a fifth year, includes 75 international and regional feature narratives, short films and documentaries from 44 countries, with eight world and two international premieres.

It opened on Thursday with the usual red carpet glamour, opening ceremony and mingling in the main plaza, with no signs of the fire the day before.

Egyptian superstar Mohamed Ramadan performed his new song Gaw El Banat with Grammy-winning Moroccan-Swedish music producer RedOne and Moroccan-Dutch singer Nouamane Belaiachi.

Ramadan, known for hit song Ya Habibi with Congolese-French rapper Maitre Gims, announced Gaw El Banat as the official song of El Gouna Film Festival on his Instagram on Thursday.

The festival has a tradition of being the platform that releases new Arabic songs, right from its inaugural event in 2017 when 3 Daqat, by Abu featuring Youssra, became a phenomenal success.