Mona Zaki honoured at El Gouna Film Festival after three decades on stage and screen
Mona Zaki has collected the Career Achievement Award at the El Gouna Film Festival after more than three decades in front of audiences.
The honour came at the opening ceremony of the festival's 9th edition, which runs Oct. 15-23 on Egypt's Red Sea coast, according to Variety. The festival had earlier billed the award as a celebration of Zaki's work across both film and television, according to the El Gouna Film Festival.
Zaki spoke to Variety at El Gouna about her career and reinvention. She started in theatre before moving into television and then film, a path she retraced in the interview.
That screen career includes Yousry Nasrallah's 2009 drama Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story, known in Arabic as Ehky Ya Shahrazad. Zaki played a television host in the film, which was written by Wahid Hamed.
The festival kept her at the centre of its programme beyond the opening night. Zaki was listed to lead the first masterclass, titled Beyond Stardom, according to the El Gouna Film Festival. A festival opening-night report also confirmed her as the recipient of the 2026 Career Achievement Award.
El Gouna framed the tribute as part of a wider edition built around new talent and wider access. Its CineGouna Emerge talent development programme launched its fourth edition on Oct. 16, with a Rising Stars lineup, while CineGouna Forum sessions were scheduled for Oct. 16-22.
The festival also continued its collaboration with Zawya Cinema in Cairo for a fourth consecutive year to carry festival films to audiences in the capital. A joint initiative with the Sawiris Foundation and Jesuit Cairo brings cinema to new audiences across Egypt.
What makes this stand out is the range. Few careers move cleanly from stage to television to film and stay there. Zaki's has, and El Gouna used its opening night to say so.
