film industry in egypt
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film industry egyptTRANSCRIPT
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Introduction
Egypt is located on the northeast corner of the African continent. One of the most densely
populated countries of Middle East, its population has rapidly increased: 16 million in 1993; 38
million in 1976; 52 million in 1987; 56 million in 1990; 85 million in 2014.
Geographically, Egypt extends from the Mediterranean Sea on the north to Sudan on the south,
and from the Red Sea on the east to Libya on the west. Even though the total area of Egypt is
around 1 million square kilometers, less than 5 percent of the land is inhabited. Majority of the
population is found in urban area. Islam is the religion of the state, and Arabic is its official
language.
Education is officially compulsory for the 9 years between 6 and 15 years of age. Primary
education starts at 6 years and lasts for 5 years, reduced from 6 in 1989; secondary education
begins at the age of 11 and lasts for 6 years. In 1989, total enrollment at primary and secondary
schools was equivalent to 89 percent of the school-age population. There are 13 universities.
Education at all level is available free of charge. However there are several private schools and
some private universities; The American University in Cairo and, in 1994, the national
universities.
The Egyptian economy follows a system of a mixed economy under government supervision.
The fundamental difficulty confronting the Egyptian economy is the pressure on resources,
owing to one of the world’s highest ratios of population to habitable and cultivable land. Egypt is
a developing country or third world country1.
1 Yahya R. Kamalipour ,Hamid Mowlana(Eds).(1994),Mass Media in the Middle East,A Comprehensive Handbook. London, Greenwood Press.Page 60-61.
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Film Development in Egypt
The film industry started in Egypt on January 28 1896 when Ahmad Syafiq Pasha opened
the first cinema under the name of Moving Photograph. The founder of that cinema was the
French “Mesio Le Mier” who charged the viewer’s 5 piaster for the adults and 2 piasters for the
kids. The first film in Egypt was a French movie shown in the city of Alexandria 1896.
Immediately after that many show theaters were established in Cairo, Alexandria, Port Saied,
Asiot and Al-Mansoura2.
On November 16, 1927, the first Egyptian silent film, Laila, was shown. It had starred
famous actress Aziz Amir together with a group of Egyptian theater stars. The fim is generally
considered to be the real starting point of the Egyptian cinema. The first talking movie was
“UnshoudatulFuad” (the song of heart) which featured the famous Egyptian artist “Zakaria
Ahmad”, “George Abyadh” and “ Abd Al-RahmanShukri”. Althought the film was not very
successful, but its producers immediately organized the first Egyptian company for distribution
in Arab world. One of the most successful films at that early time was “al-Warda Al-Bida”
directed by “Mohammed Karim”.
In 1934, TalaatHarb, an Egyptian businessman, formed Misr Company for Acting and
Cinema, which later become known as the Studio Mirs. This was an important development in
Egyptian cinema. The first film shot in this fully equipped studio was Wedad, starring Om
Kalthoum-Egypt’s most famous female singer. Several other musical films followed.
In 1945, a new era began in the history of the Egyptian cinema with the postwar films. Movie
production increased because many producers were in pursuit of making profits and wealth.
2 Abdullah Hassan. (2001). Proceedings of The International Convention on The role of Media in Non-Aligned Countries.Malaysia,IIUM Press, page 113.
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Hence, they turned the art of moviemaking into a commercial venture. It was quantity and not
quality that they looked for. For instance, the number of films produced in 1945-1946 jumped to
67 from 28 in 1944-1945 and from only 16 in 1943-19443.
There are several films else, such as in 1923, The real beginning of the Egyptian cinema
was the screening of In the Land of Tutankhamun, the first Egyptian feature film, an 80-minute
length about the discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamun.Mohamed Bayumi was the first
Egyptian to stand behind a camera, as aproducer, writer, director and photographer,
using equipment and laboratories he purchased at his expense from Germany.The short narrative
(12 minutes) Barsoum Looking for a Job, was screened. It was photographed, directed and
produced by Mohamed Bayumi and starring BisharaWakim, Abdel Hamid Zaki, Mohamed
Shafiq, and child Mohamed Youssef. It was intended to be a feature film, but when child
Mohamed Youssef, son of Mohamed Bayumi, died, it was not completed.
Next, in an unprecedented incident in Egypt, Lashin, directed by Fritz Kramp, was
confiscated and banned from public screening on the same day it was approved to be shown, on
March 17. It was banned by censors because it has “insinuations related to the Royal Highness
and the regime”.The story of the film revolves about political corruption and economic collapse
and is ended by the will of the people realized in murdering the ruler and appointing a popular
leader from the public.Studio Misr had to make a different end in which the just sultan triumphs
and enjoys the love of his people following a conspiracy schemed against him. The film was
screened with the new end on November 14, 1938.
3 Yahya R. Kamalipour ,HamidMowlana(Eds).(1994),Mass Media in the Middle East,A Comprehensive Handbook. London, Greenwood Press, page 68.
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On November 6, El Azima (The Will), directed by Kamal Selim, was screened. It is one
of the most important classics of the Egyptian cinema. Its importance derives from its being the
first realistic film depicting daily life in poor Egyptian alleys, through popular characters and
models, addressing unemployment, a problem devastated the Egyptian society in the late
thirties.“Kamal Selim was an admirer of the French poetic realism. Despite his adopting some
features of René Clair or Jean Renoir, he had an original style, more like the Italian Neorealism,”
wrote George Sadol.They also has film El Mumya (The Mummy), was screened in the opening
of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, for the first time in the history of the Egyptian
cinema.El Mumya is one of the most important films ever in the history of the Egyptian as well
as Arabic cinema. Both script and dialogue were written by Shady Abdel Salam, and
photographed by Abdel Aziz Fahmy. The film was starring Nadia Lotfy, Ahmed Mar’i,
ZozoHamdy El Hakim and ShafikNourEddin4.
On August 8, 1952, Mohamed Naguib, the president of Egypt, issued a declaration for the
film industry that included the following statement: “The cinema is a source of education,
knowledge and entertainment. We must considerer this because if we do not take this into
consideraqtion it will affect the young and make our standard go down”. Therefore, from 1952 to
1962, the film industry entered a critical stage in its history. In this ten-year period, nearly 600
films (60 films per year) were produced. The most famous of these were Allah Maana (1955)
and RodaQalby (1957). Also to encourage better-quality films, the Ministry of Culture held
several film competitions, the first in 1955.
In 1963, a public sector film production known as the Cinema Institute was created.
However, unable to compete with the local and international market, the institute failed to gain
4 http://www.luxorafricanfilmfestival.com/Resources/Egypt/history-of-cinema-egypt
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revenues and profit5s to cover its expenses, it folded in 1969. “the Egyptian cinema produced
during the period of public sector 416 films, 50% of which were public sector production, 40%
private sector financed by the public sector, 10% produced by private sector financed by
Lebanese and distributed by Arab companies”.
After the 1967 war with Israel, Egyptian films turned their focus to entertainment,
thereby assisting viewer in overcoming their losses and dealing with the country’s defeat. The
1960s were known as the period of “Fear”. Censorship was so strong that Nasser himself had to
watch the film Some Fear and approve it for public showing.
Under President Anwar el-Sadat, the movies soon forgot the war and began dealing with
other subjects that were more profitable. The open-door period in the mid-1970s included a
number of films, most of which were commercial and purely fictional or unrealistic. This was
followed by films against the open-door policy. They were against economic and social practices
and wanted to warn people about the corruption that was going on under the name of the open-
door policy. Thirteen such films were shown in Egypt between 1975 and 1981.Under President
Hosni Mubarak, cinema has become a business depending on supply and demand. Also a new
social class has appeared, demanding a different taste in almost all art. Since profit making is a
very important aspect of the cinema business, producers tailor their films to meet the demand of
this new audience. In general, this narrow perspective has contributed to the deterioration in
many recent films5.
5 Yahya R. Kamalipour ,HamidMowlana(Eds).(1994),Mass Media in the Middle East,A Comprehensive Handbook. London, Greenwood Press, page 69.
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Effect of Film Industry in Egypt
Education
Positive Effects of Film Industry to Egyptian education
No doubt, education encounters in modern times becomes challenges in all aspects of
social, economic & cultural life. However, the most important of which are over-population,
over-knowledge, education philosophy development & the change of teacher’s role, the spread of
illiteracy, lack of the staff & the technological development & mass media. This drove the
teaching staff to use the modern teaching technologies to face some of the main problems, which
education & its productivity encounter, by increasing the learning level which may be achieved
through providing equivalent opportunities for all people whenever & wherever they are, while
taking into account the individual differences between learners.6
In Egypt, education is highly valued in Egypt, and families invest a lot in that area. Even
low-income families try to educate their children as much as possible. Education, especially
having a university degree, is considered an important avenue for social mobility. But many
families cannot afford to educate their children beyond the elementary level. In addition, many
children have to work at an early age to help support their families.7
Thus, to improve the educational productivity, one of the ways that needed in keep
increasing the educational system in Egypt was through the film industry. Indeed, the Egyptian
film industry has made a big improvement or positive effects to the educational system in Egypt
itself according to some benefits of filmmaking industry for example by taking the period of
Gamal Abdel Nasser. 6 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S22108319120000337http://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Egypt.html
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First and foremost, one positive contribution from this period was the opening of the
Higher Institute of Cinema in 1959, by the Ministry of Culture, where students received training
in different aspects of production. Since then, this institute has produced much of Egypt's film
and television talent.8
The next advantage of the film industry that affect the educational system in Egypt is it
allowing the students to understand the films well by themselves. As we already know, in Egypt,
the filmmaking industry basically used the same method as the other countries in this world also
used which is the concept of the film is all about the society in that country such as how the
culture there, their religion and so on. On the other hand, for the film makers, their purpose is to
make the others aware or concern about the issues that happened among the society around them.
Therefore, after watching any film, the students will take a good lesson to make their life better
in the future. So, through this film industry, it really gives contributions to the teachers as well as
the students to improve their knowledge and awareness towards the society around them. By the
end of watching the film, they will able to recognize, to differentiate, and to evaluate between the
good and the bad especially by the students themselves. For instance, if they watch the film that
can give many benefits to them like the encouragement of being good to the parent, so they will
benefit from that film by applying what they have seen in that film to their parent at home. Thus,
it is proven that the film industry can give the positive impact to the development of the
educational system in Egypt from time to time because Egyptian films are worth that related to
the current issues with which Egyptians are concerned.9
Besides allowing the students gain benefits from the film, the other impact of the film
industry in Egypt to the educational system there was the advancement of the Egyptian
8http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Egypt-ECONOMICS-AND-POLITICS.html9http://www.intercultures.ca/cil-cai/ci-ic-eng.asp?iso=eg
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filmmaking inspired the students to study and produce their own films in the future. This is
because, the Egyptian filmmaking more advanced and developed in terms of the quality
filmmaking compared to the other countries in the Middle East like Morocco and others because
of the experts in Egypt more than the others. So, the interest that showed by the students will
increase their efforts to know and explore the filmmaking industry in Egypt. It is better compared
to other things that can bring harm to them and also the image of the country may destroy
because of the students there just involved in the immoral things like loitering, smoking and
addicting in games. That interest will lead them to involve in the good behavior and also can
reduce them from wasting time.10
Negative Effects of Film Industry to Egyptian education
Nonetheless, the Egyptian film industries also have its own negative effect to the
educational system there. The first primary negative effect is the misuse of film watching by the
students because some of the film can harm their thinking like the film about gangsters, killing
and so on. Thus, it will result and reflect the bad behavior of the students if there no any
limitation in watching that such film.
As a conclusion, the film industry in Egypt gives the positive impact to the educational
system there in terms of receiving training, the awareness about the society of the students
themselves as well as the encouragement to make them involve in film industry by impressing
them through the film in order to reduce the immoral behavior among the teenagers or students.
Meanwhile, the other side impacts are the misuse of film watching and the bad influences from
the people around them that can lead them to the bad behavior.
10http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/08/52063/the-egyptian-cinema-a-positive-influence-of-over-a-century/
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Economy
Positive Effect of Film Industry to Egyptian economy
The evolution of Egyptian film history reflects the economic changes that have swept the
country since the beginnings of a national film industry. This change has been distinguished by
widely divergent economic directions that became more pronounced following the 1952 Free
Officer's Coup—a revolution led by a group of young military officers. The subsequent rise of
Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918–1970) to power in 1954 extended to his leadership of the Pan-Arab
movement, which forged ties between Egypt, Syria, and Iraq after Egypt's successful resolution
of the 1956 Suez crisis.
In Egypt, film production gained the profit after the establishment of cinema of Egypt
because since 1976, Cairo has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been
accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations because when there
has been held any festival, people will come and tour around the city. So, the income of the film
industry increased after the death of Nasser.
Negative Effects of Film Industry to Egyptian economy
Nasser's social reforms included nationalizing the cinema in the 1960s, and this had a
great and negative impact on the film industry. Soon after the establishment of the General
Organization of Egyptian Cinema in 1961 and the nationalization of the theatres in 1963,
directors, producers, and talent fled to Lebanon, where they worked in the Lebanese film
industry until the outbreak of civil war in 1975.
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As soon as Nasser nationalized the radio and television industries in the early 1960s,
attendance at movie theatres dropped drastically. In the period from 1955 to 1975, the number of
film theatres declined from 350 to fewer than 250. Meanwhile, imported foreign films continued
to flood the Egyptian market. Tickets to films were heavily taxed, and the state film organization
lost about 7 million Egyptian pounds, slowly bringing state film production to a halt by the early
1970s. The pendulum effect in funding between private and public sectors was also damaged by
the increasingly predominant investment from the oil-rich Gulf countries, which financed films
for television in the 1980s and later for satellite distribution in the 1990s. In addition to their
more stringent censorship requirements of the usual subjects (sex, politics, and religion), the Gulf
producers generally lacked awareness of the aesthetics of cinema.
The Gulf petrodollars of the 1980s caused an out-pouring of funded television shows,
which led to further decline in the film industry. By 1994, Egyptian cinema was considered to be
in a state of crisis: the annual production of films had fallen to single digits, a far cry from the
annual output of fifty narrative features in 1944. Meanwhile, the reconstruction of post-war
Beirut was fueling the media explosion of the second half of the 1990s, which led to such
satellite channels as Rotana and Good Day from Beirut and the Gulf states, which now produce
many films for the Egyptian market.
Another challenge to independent Egyptian film is the power of censors to stifle artistic
work and freedom of expression at the slightest hint of perceived criticism of religion or of taboo
subjects presented in anything other than a denunciatory way. Between 1971 and 1973, during
Sadat's early years, any films that dealt with the 1967 defeat were banned, including Il
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Usfur ( The Sparrow, Youssef Chahine, 1973), but since the early 1990s, censorship has been
more acutely attentive to religious issues.11
Social
Positive Effects of Film Industry to Egyptian’s people
The themes of the movies were of a huge influence on the Arab mentality. Thanks to
them, there was a cultural and political awareness of the Arab issues, and they were analyzed and
discussed through the films. Historically speaking, their cinema contributed in transforming the
best of the Islamic and folkloric heritage ingrained within their audiences into memorable flashes
of pictures, worth thousands of words. Socially speaking, their cinema addressed many issues
related to illiteracy, poverty, crime, the clash between social classes, crimes of honor and others.
Psychologically, they showed a deep sight and a sharp knowledge of human nature through
unveiling the geneses of human relationships, emotions and psyche.
There are several impacts of film industry in Egypt positively. The children groups are
now much aware of the issues like sex, pregnancy, abortion, sex related diseases, myths &
superstitions and their participation in social media to spread the knowledge base is making it a
real phenomenon to count on.
Like all other mass media, the film industries reflect and are informed by particular
ideological content and contexts. It is evident that film texts are constructed within the context
of, for example, dominant perceptions about the role of women and men, definitions of success
and prosperity, and the importance of the family. Thus, films in Egypt are not created in isolation
11Ibid
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from the society in which they operate. At the same time, the films in Egypt reflect certain
common sense views or dominant ideologies within society. For example, when films treat the
family, it is generally the traditional nuclear family that is accorded the status of normal. The
main characters often refer to their desire for a “stable” and traditional happy family, but nothing
of the sort will ever happen; this is the situation of the sitcom. Representations of women provide
a further example of how the films affirm social structures and values within particular
ideological frameworks.12
Negative Effects of Film Industry to Egyptian’s people
There are also negative effects that contribute to the changing behavior and perception
about people and their surroundings. Earlier research shows how the movie and filmare
important in emphasizing any created phenomena, even if distorted, as realities in the viewers'
cognitive perception. It also effects and plays an important role, especially with illiterate people
who cannot read or write, and usually resort to get information from the. Through emphasizing
the image of the spinster in the drama or movies displayed in the Egypt, as the researcher
assumes, people know what the spinster looks like; these perceptions whether they are good or
bad, will dominate their minds as they will consider what they watch to be the reality no matter
whether it is true or not, and it will construct as the social reality in the unconscious.
A behavioral impact is the big issue negatively affected by the improper use of film
industry. Peer influence, celebrity influence and even some adult influence through their making
can unrest and diversify the core moral values in children. This is something really alarming for
the whole family especially Egypt as a Muslim’s country.
12Roles and Effects of Media in the Middle East and the United States.A Monograph by Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Mady, Egyptian Army, page 62.
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Moreover, kids are vulnerable to frauds and aggressive behavior. With the increase in
uncensored use of film, this risk is becoming more widespread every day. While the gen-Y
children all across the globe are becoming smarter in every aspect of life using motion pictures
and film, yet we cannot dismiss the negative effects of social media on them 13.The children learn
violence by seeing movies and TV programs. They imitate super heroes they see in the screen
which may cause danger to their life. The over exposure to media make them behave more
aggressively, which spoils their future also. Moreover, media has negative effects on the physical
and psychological well-being of society. As we know that lack of physical activity such as
jogging in the recreation place leads to obesity problems..14
Films in Egypt also constructing a negative image and shaping the perception of
unmarried women within Egyptian society.The media, including movies, offers us a reflection of
society, demonstrating common cultural behaviors and belief systems and reinforcing them. A
movie titled Ashtibah or "Suspicion" (1991), acted by NaglaaFathy and directed by AlaaKarim,
represents the vacuum and futility that society suffers from when an 'innocent woman' is accused
of committing adultery. Viewers see how their society is antagonistic and unsympathetic with the
heroine, Nadia, as even her family sees her as a criminal who committed adultery. The movie
shows how powerful the media are in shaping people’s perceptions, and that people usually trust
what they hear from the media above their own family and friends. This movie also shows how
our society and the media represent a pressuring influence on women. Another example is Nabil
Ragheb (2000) refers to the stereotypes often used in the Egyptian film industry for the sake of
humor and comedy such as the tyrant or frustrated woman. He also tackles different stereotypical
themes such as rape and adultery, tragedies of prostitutes, Urfi and secret marriages. Egyptian
13http://socialmediaclub.org/blogs/social-media-journal/social-media-and-its-effect-children-interception#sthash.ZBiX6nY7.dpuf14http://www.buzzle.com/articles/negative-influences-of-media.html
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films have historically and continue to construct the single, unmarried woman as a spinster
through three specific stereotypes:An ugly horrible woman who is desperate to get married, for
example the two sisters-in-law who envied the young bride in the movie: Where is My Lifetime?
or AynOmry?; a caricatured or exaggerated image of the anas woman that others should laugh at,
as typified by actress Zenat Sedky, in movies like Love StreetorSharaa El Hob, and IbnHamido,
or a pitiful woman who is a disgrace as SanaaGamil in Bedayia We Nehayia or a burden to her
family because she has not married early like in Ahl El Qema, acted by Soad Hosni. 15
Conclusion
As the conclusion on our exploration of this country we can conclude that Egypt is one of the
earlier countries came into film industry. Although the first film shown in Egypt is French film,
but Egypt adopted the industry very well. Just a few years after the first show, there are several
15Thesis from HebaMetwally, The Role of Egyptian Film in Stereotyping Single Women, page 67.
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films made by Egyptian itself. So, Egypt is more updated about film on that day compared to
other Middle East countries.
The film industry not just an entertainment for resident of Egypt, but it also have the another
goals or aims to achieve by using this media. Mass media play a big duty to color the people
thinking, education, ideology, faith, politic, economic and so on. Films already make the changes
to Egyptian for example to cover the Egyptian emotions after they have been defeated by Zionist.
Hopefully, Egypt will get the stability in social, politic and economic after several political
revolutions happened in 2013 and film will be a good way to achieve that in long time or short
time period.
References
Books:
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Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Mady (2009). Roles and Effects of Media in the Middle
East and the United States.Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Yahya R. Kamalipour ,Hamid Mowlana(Eds).(1994),Mass Media in the Middle
East,A Comprehensive Handbook. London, Greenwood Press.
Abdullah Hassan. (2001). Proceedings of The International Convention on The role
of Media in Non-Aligned Countries. Malaysia,IIUM Press.
website :
http://socialmediaclub.org/blogs/social-media-journal/social-media-and-its-effect-children-
interception#sthash.ZBiX6nY7.dpuf
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/negative-influences-of-media.html
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0107484.html
http://www.europeanforum.net/country/egypt
http://www.luxorafricanfilmfestival.com/Resources/Egypt/history-of-cinema-egypt
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210831912000033
http://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Egypt.html
http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Egypt-ECONOMICS-AND-
POLITICS.html