Rdxfbgrtj

Egyptian Cinema
No. of screens	221 (2015) [1]
• Per capita	0.4 per 100,000 (2010)[1]
Main distributors	The Trinity: (Nasr - Oscar - El Massah) Cinema Masr Sphinix Studio Masr[2]
Produced feature films (2005–2009)[3]
Total	42 (average)
Number of admissions (2015)[4]
Total	9,561,000
Gross box office (2015)[4]
Total	$267 million

The cinema of Egypt refers to the flourishing film industry based in Cairo. Since 1976, the capital has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations.^[5] There is also another festival held in Alexandria. Of the more than 4,000 short and feature-length films made in MENA region since 1908, more than three-quarters were Egyptian movies.^{[citation needed]}

History

Beginnings

This article is part of a series on
Life in Egypt
Culture
Architecture Egyptian revival Art Contemporary Cinema Cuisine Dance Raqs sharqi Baladi Tahtib Tanoura Fashion Folklore History Holidays Language Literature Music Mythology Radio Sculpture Sport Symbols Flag Anthem Television Theater
Society
People Identity Education Demographics Health Media Human rights Religion World Heritage Sites
Politics
Presidency Government Parliament Political parties Military Corruption Law enforcement Foreign relations Law
Economy
Energy Tourism Telecommunications Transportation
Egypt portal
v t e

Poster for the Egyptian film Yahya el hub (1938).

A limited number of silent films were made in Egypt beginning in 1896; 1927's Laila was notable as the first full-length feature. Cairo's film industry became a regional force with the coming of sound. Between 1930 and 1936, various small studios produced at least 44 feature films. In 1936, Studio Misr, financed by industrialist Talaat Harb, emerged as the leading Egyptian equivalent to Hollywood's major studios, a role the company retained for three decades.^[6]

Historians disagree in determining the beginning of cinema in Egypt. Some say in 1896, when the first film was watched in Egypt, while others date the beginning from 20 June 1907 with a short documentary film about the visit of Khedive Abbas Hilmi II to the Institute of Mursi Abul-Abbas in Alexandria. In 1917, the director Mohammed Karim established a production company in Alexandria. The company produced two films: Dead Flowers and Honor the Bedouin, which were shown in the city of Alexandria in early 1918.

Since then, more than 4,000 films have been produced in Egypt, three quarters of the total Arab production. Egypt is the most productive country in the Middle East in the field of film production, and the one with the most developed media system.^{[citation needed]}

The Golden Age

Poster for the Egyptian film Berlanti (1944).

The 1940s, 1950s and the 1960s are generally considered the golden age of Egyptian cinema. In the 1950s, Egypt's cinema industry was the world's third largest.^[7] As in the West, films responded to the popular imagination, with most falling into predictable genres (happy endings being the norm), and many actors making careers out of playing strongly typed parts. In the words of one critic, "If an Egyptian film intended for popular audiences lacked any of these prerequisites, it constituted a betrayal of the unwritten contract with the spectator, the results of which would manifest themselves in the box office."^[8]

In 1940,^[9] the entrepreneur and translator Anis Ebeid established "Anis Ebeid Films", as the first subtitling company in Egypt and the Middle East, bringing hundreds of American and World movies to Egypt. Later he entered the movie distribution business too.^[10]

Political changes in Egypt after the overthrow of King Farouk in 1952 initially had little effect on Egyptian film. The Nasser regime sought control over the industry only after turning to socialism in 1961.^[11] By 1966, the Egyptian film industry had been nationalized. As with all matters in that period, diametrical opinions can be found about the cinema industry then. In the words of Ahmed Ramzi, a leading man of the era, "it went to the dogs".^[12] The "heavy government hand" that accompanied nationalization of Egyptian film "stifled innovative trends and sapped its dynamism".^[11] However, considering a rather modern moderate review like that given by Dubai International Film Festival,^[13] Most of the 44 Egyptian films featuring in the best 100 Arab films of all time were produced during that period. Notable titles included The Night of Counting The Years, Cairo Station and The Postman.

By the 1970s, Egyptian films struck a balance between politics and entertainment. Films such as 1972's Khalli Balak min Zouzou (Watch out for Zouzou), starring "the Cinderella of Arab cinema", Suad Husni, sought to balance politics and audience appeal. Zouzou integrated music, dance, and contemporary fashions into a story that balanced campus ferment with family melodrama.^[14]

Transitional period

The late 1970s and 1980s saw the Egyptian film industry in decline, with the rise of what came to be called "contractor movies". Actor Khaled El Sawy has described these as films "where there is no story, no acting and no production quality of any kind... basic formula movies that aimed at making a quick buck." The number of films produced also declined, from nearly 100 movies a year in the industry's prime to about a dozen in 1995. This lasted until summer 1997, when "Ismailia Rayeh Gayy" (translation: Ismailia back and forth) shocked the cinema industry, enjoying unparalleled success and large profits for the producers, introducing Mohamed Fouad (a famous singer) and Mohamed Henedi, then a rather unknown actor who later became the number one comedian star. Building on the success of that movie, several comedy films were released in the following years.

Present

Since the 1990s, Egypt's cinema has gone in separate directions. Smaller art films attract some international attention but sparse attendance at home. Popular films, often broad comedies such as What A Lie!, and the extremely profitable works of comedian Mohamed Saad, battle to hold audiences either drawn to Western films or, increasingly, wary of the perceived immorality of film.^[11]

A few productions, such as 2003's Sahar el Layali (Sleepless Nights), intertwined stories of four bourgeois couples^[15] and 2006's Imarat Yacoubian (The Yacoubian Building) bridge this divide through their combination of high artistic quality and popular appeal.

In 2006, the film Awkat Faragh (Leisure Time) was released. A social commentary on the decline of Egyptian youth, the film was produced on a low budget and had attendant low production values. The film, however, became a success. Its controversial subject matter, namely, the sexual undertones in today's society, was seen as confirmation that the industry was beginning to take risks.

A major challenge facing Egyptian and international scholars, students and fans of Egyptian film is the lack of resources in terms of published works, preserved and available copies of the films themselves, and development in Egypt of state and private institutions dedicated to the study and preservation of film. The Egyptian National Film Centre (ENFC), which theoretically holds copies of all films made after 1961, is according to one Egyptian film researcher, "far from being a library, houses piles of rusty cans containing positive copies."^[16]

The year 2007, however, saw a considerable spike in the number of Egyptian films made. In 1997, the number of Egyptian feature-length films created was 16; 10 years later, that number had risen to 40. Box office records have also risen significantly, as Egyptian films earned around $50 million while American films, by comparison, earned $10 million.^{[citation needed]}

Festivals

Since 1976, Cairo has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations.^[5] Another festival is held in Alexandria.

Notable films

Cinema of Egypt
List of Egyptian films
Pre 1920
1920s
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
v t e

Notable figures

Directors

Cinematographers

• Tarek El-Telmissany

Actors

Film critics

• Samir Farid

Music Composers

• 
  Ammar El Sherei (1948–2012)


• 
  Omar Khairat (1948-–present)

See also

• Media of Egypt


• Cinema of the world


• Culture of Egypt


• List of Egyptian films

In the press

• The best of Egyptian cinema, the best 15 best Egyptian films of all time

References

Further reading

• 
  Viola Shafik, Popular Egyptian Cinema: Gender, Class, and Nation, American University in Cairo Press, 2007,
  ISBN 978-977-416-053-0
  


• Walter Armbrust, "Political Film in Egypt" in: Josef Gugler (ed.) Film in the Middle East and North Africa: Creative Dissidence, University of Texas Press and American University in Cairo Press, 2011,
  ISBN 978-0-292-72327-6,
  ISBN 978-9-774-16424-8, pp 228–251

External links

• 
  African Media Program Comprehensive database of African media


• 
  El-Cinema.com (an imdb inspired Egyptian/Arabic movie database)