Dina El Sherbiny dances with Yousra and joins comedy panel at GFF

During the ninth edition of the El Gouna Film Festival, actress Dina El Sherbiny participated in a panel discussion alongside fellow artists, Al Masrawy reported. The moment unfolded during a festival concert celebrating the musical hits of Diab amid energetic crowd participation. During the event, El Sherbiny appeared dancing alongside actress Yousra to the music of star Amr Diab.

Panel Examines How Egyptian Comedy Travels Across Arab World

Beyond the festival’s musical events, the closing day featured a panel discussion titled “Egyptian Comedy Crosses Borders,” held on Thursday, October 22. Held on the CineGouna stage, the session examined how Egyptian humor travels across the Arab world, the mechanics of joke construction, and the interplay between writing, performance, direction, and production. The panel featured El Sherbiny alongside writer-director Khaled Diab and producer Ahmed El Desouky, with direction from filmmaker Heba Youssry, and was attended by a large number of public figures and industry professionals including Fadwa Abed, Rakin Saad, Jessica Hossam El Din, Dalia Shawky, Mohamed Alaa, Khaled Selim, Mervat Abou Ouf, and festival co-founder and CEO Amr Mansi.

El Sherbiny stated during the session that audiences in Gulf countries appreciate Egyptian culture and view Egyptians as naturally witty, asserting that quality work succeeds across different cultures. She pointed to historical comedy heavyweights such as Adel Emam, Mohamed Sobhy, and Samir Ghanem as pillars of Egypt’s long-standing cinematic footprint. While noting she does not place herself in their specific school, she emphasized that every performer maintains a distinct artistic signature and added that currently, no one else presents that exact same experience. She expressed an enduring appreciation for classic comedies starring Naguib el-Rihani and Ismail Yassin, noting they still make her laugh and retain their impact across generations.

Memorable Cinematic References and Creative Challenges

The panel discussion expanded into specific cinematic memories and the practical difficulties of writing humor for an audience with a high baseline for wit. The conversation also touched on social classes, with El Sherbiny raising a question regarding whether social class influences humor and whether differences exist between comedies reflecting wealthy lives versus those depicting the middle class and other groups.

Director Khaled Diab recalled viewing the film Heldet Frizar and laughing intensely upon first watching it, specifically praising the character Tabahi portrayed by actress Nisreen Amin and her comedic talent. Diab explained that they attempted to leverage that character’s nature in the series Ashghal Shaqqa through a role played by actress Fadwa Abed, whom he noted played the part exceptionally well, pointing to his admiration for comedy that stems from character details and interactions with different situations. Desouky characterized that particular sequence as one of the most significant moments in modern Arab comedy.

Approaches to Improvisation and Production Realities

When addressing on-set improvisation, Diab described late star Samir Ghanem as supernatural and believed he prepared extensively while relying in many aspects on strange accessories, ultimately describing Ghanem as the most important comedian from his perspective. Regarding Mohamed Saad, Diab stated that his talent is beyond debate, calling him the wittiest person God created and noting he bursts into laughter because of him. As long as the cast and crew understand the underlying motivation of a given situation, spontaneous additions during rolling cameras are permitted and retained if effective.

El Sherbiny shared that she frequently evaluates incoming comedic material for personal resonance, often requesting the removal of punchlines during post-production if a specific line fails to serve the character’s narrative trajectory. She also confessed her fear of having a heavy shadow and noted that making people laugh is not easy, with her primary concern being whether a scene will achieve its required effect, which requires precise calculations regarding timing, rhythm, and audience reaction. During the discussion of difficulties facing female artists, El Sherbiny spoke about experiencing situations where she felt gender discrimination within the industry, opening up questions on whether limited female starring roles in comedy stem from audience preferences or from the choices of producers, writers, and marketing methods.

Diab addressed the double standards in how some viewers react to boldness in artistic works, noting that audiences might accept a certain situation or scene only to direct harsh criticism at the actress performing it, which affects freedom in presenting characters and situations when reactions turn into judgments against the artist rather than critiques of the dramatic character or scene context. He also discussed social and religious restrictions facing comedy creators and their impact on writing satirical situations and choosing subjects, noting that while these constraints present challenges, they sometimes push creators to innovate new modes of expression and find artistic solutions to convey ideas without traditional methods.

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