Patrick Dempsey the guest of honor of GIFF

CAIRO – 9 September 2018: El Gouna International Film Festival management announced that the famed American star Patrick Dempsey will be the guest of honor of the second edition of the festival.

In addition, Dempsey will bring over his latest TV series, which has not yet aired, to the festival. For the first time, El Gouna Film Festival will be showing a glimpse of Dempsey’s new TV series with MGM entitled, “The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair”.

“The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair” series is based on a novel bearing the same name, and directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud who was also invited to attend the festival.

Dempsey is a famous American actor who was born in 1966. He built his worldwide fame after performing Dr. Derek Shephard in the popular drama “Grey’s Anatomy”, starring with Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey). Dempsey garnered several awards for his role in “Grey’s Anatomy”.

Dempsey was nominated twice for the prestigious Golden Globe, as well as a Screen Actor Guild Award.

Among Dempsey’s famous movies are “Enchanted”, “Made of Honor”, “Can’t Buy Love”, “ Loverboy” and the role of the billionaire villain Dylan Gould in “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” among others.

GIFF management previously announced that they will grant the Creative Achievement Award to iconic Egyptian director Daoud Abdel Sayed and Tunisian producer Dora Bouchoucha.

This year’s jury includes world-renowned Arab actor Ali Suliman, Egyptian film star Mona Zaki, acclaimed Moroccan director Ahmed el-Maanouni, and newly-appointed Berlinale director Carlo Chatrian, Croatian producer Cedomir Kolar, Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi, film programmer Ally Derks and three-time Green Oscar winning filmmaker from India Mike Pandey.

The jury also includes Georgian director Ana Urushadze, whose film "Scary Mother" won GIFF’s Golden Star in 2017, Jordanian actress Saba Mubarak, Austrian programmer Doris Bauer, and Palestinian actor Kamel el-Basha, who won the Best Actor Award at the 2017 Venice Film Festival.

GIFF’s management continues its cooperation with international entities, including its partnership with Variety. During the festival, Variety will be presenting their annual Arab Talent Award, which was given to Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri last year.

His film "The Insult" was later nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The festival’s partnership with Festival Scope has also been renewed, allowing festival guests to access the platform’s library of films during the festival and for 10 days after it ends.