Beginnings

Aziza Amir in the Egyptian film Laila (1927)

Publicity still for the Egyptian film Yahya el hub (1938)

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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.^[10]

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. Years later, Aziza Amir produced Laila (1927), the first feature-length Egyptian film in history.^[11]

Since then, more than 4,000 films have been produced in Egypt, three quarters of the total Arab production. Historian Samir Kassir notes (2004) that Studio Misr in particular, "despite their ups and downs, were to make Cairo the third capital of the world’s film industry, after Hollywood and Bombay but ahead of Italy’s Cinecittà."^[12] Egypt is the most productive country in the Middle East and Africa in the field of film production, and the one with the most developed media system.^[13]

The Golden Age

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.^[14] 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."^[15]

Publicity still for the Egyptian film Berlanti (1944)

In 1940,^[16] the entrepreneur and translator Anis Ebeid established "Anis Ebeid Films", as the first subtitling company in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East, bringing hundreds of American and World movies to Egypt. Later he entered the movie distribution business too.^[17]

In 1950, Studio Misr produced the film Baba Aris, the first Egyptian film entirely in natural color, starring Naima Akef, Fouad Shafik, Camelia, and Shoukry Sarhan. In 1951, Mohamed Fawzi experimented with coloring two of his films: Love in Danger and The End of a Story. Unfortunately, the two films burned on their way from France to Egypt, and the black-and-white copies remained on Egyptian television.^[18] It was said that Mohamed Fawzi was not satisfied with the quality. The colors in the first film were poor, so he had to re-shoot it, which caused him huge financial losses. In 1956, the film Dalila was produced in Scope colours, starring Abdel Halim Hafez and Shadia. Afterwards, many Egyptian-colored Egyptian films were produced on a limited basis in the 1950s and 1960s, and in the 1970s, specifically after the 1973 October War, colors became prevalent in most films.

Currently, ancient Egyptian classic films, in addition to the latest cinematic productions, are shown on private Arab channels, some of which are "free viewing" that can be benefited from through promotional segments or advertisements, and some of them are for a fee through the pay-per-view service on closed networks. 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.^[19]

In the 1960s, the General Cinema Foundation was established to produce feature films, which is affiliated with the public sector in Egypt. This led to a decrease in the average number of films from 60 to 40 films per year, and by 1966 the number of theaters also decreased from 354 in 1954 to 255 houses. 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".^[20] In this era, an emerging generation of film stars came to prominence such as: Shoukry Sarhan, Soad Hosny, Salah Zulfikar, Rushdy Abaza, Nadia Lutfi, Faten Hamama, Omar Sharif, Kamal El-Shennawi, Shadia, Mariam Fakhr Eddine, Lobna Abdel Aziz, Abdel Halim Hafez, Huda Sultan, Hind Rostom, Farid Shawqi, Zubaida Tharwat, Ismail Yassine, Magda, Laila Fawzi, Ahmed Mazhar, and Sabah.

Salah Zulfikar and Nadia Lutfi in the Egyptian film Saladin the Victorious (1963)

Egyptian films shown in the 1960s can be divided into three sections: films that deal with the subject of poverty, raising the value of work, and praising socialist society, such as the film Soft Hands directed by Mahmoud Zulfikar, films that condemned opportunistic models and social diseases such as bribery, corruption, and theft crimes, such as Miramar, and films that dealt with issues of people's political participation, condemned negativity, and also addressed topics of democracy, connection to the land, and resistance, such as the film The Rains Dried. The "heavy government hand" that accompanied nationalization of Egyptian film "stifled innovative trends and sapped its dynamism".^[21] However, most of the 44 Egyptian films featuring in the best 100 Egyptian films list of all time were produced during that period. Notable titles includes; The Night of Counting the Years, Aghla Min Hayati, Cairo Station, The Second Man, My Wife, the Director General, Saladin the Victorious, A Taste of Fear, The Postman, Back Again, Soft Hands, and The Land.

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", Soad Hosny, sought to balance politics and audience appeal. Zouzou integrated music, dance, and contemporary fashions into a story that balanced campus ferment with family melodrama. In mid-1971, the General Cinema Foundation was liquidated and a public body was established that included cinema, theater and music. The Authority stopped film production, contenting itself with financing the private sector, and the state's role in cinema began to decline until it completely ended novel production. Only two companies remained with the state, one for studios and the other for distribution and theaters. However, the average number of films produced remained 40 films until 1974, then it rose to 50. films, and the number of theaters continued to decline until it reached 190 in 1977. Notable 1970s titles include; Sunset and Sunrise, Chitchat on the Nile, The Other Man, The Bullet is Still in My Pocket, Karnak, The Guilty, I Want a Solution, Whom Should We Shoot?, Alexandria... Why?, Shafika and Metwali.^[22] Hassan Ramzi's 1975 Egyptian film Al-Rida’ al-Abyad (The White Gown) was released in the Soviet Union in 1976, selling 61 million tickets in the country. This made it the highest-grossing foreign film of the year and the seventh highest-grossing foreign film ever in the Soviet Union.^[23][24] This also made it the highest-grossing Egyptian film of all time, with its Soviet ticket sales surpassing the worldwide ticket sales of all other Egyptian films, achieving revenue over $28,700,000 in 1975.^[25]

Transitional period

Soad Hosny in the Egyptian film People on the Top (1981)

The 1980s saw the Egyptian film industry in decline, however, the industry saw huge box-office jumps. A new wave of young directors emerged who were able to overcome the prevailing production traditions and create serious cinema. They were called the Neo-Realism Movement or the generation of the eighties. From this generation were Atef El Tayeb, Khairy Beshara, Mohamed Khan, Raafat Al-Mihi Ali Abdelkhalek and others. Also, a new generation of films stars such as: Ahmed Zaki, Nour El-Sherif, Adel Imam, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Nabila Ebeid, Nadia El Gendy, Yousra, Laila Elwi, Elham Shahin, and Sherihan, emerged during that period. In the 1980s, Egyptian cinema produced notable films, such as; The Shame, An Egyptian Story, The Bus Driver, The Peacock, The Innocent, The Collar and the Bracelet, A Moment of Weakness, The Wife of an Important Man, and Escape. In the mid-eighties, specifically at the beginning of 1984, the number of films produced suddenly increased to 63 films.

In the 1990s, However, 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 films 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. The 1990s notable titles include; the industry presented notable films such as; Alexandria Again and Forever, War in the Land of Egypt, The Kit Kat, The Shepherd and the Women, Terrorism and Kebab, The Terrorist, Five-Star Thieves, Road to Eilat, The Emigrant, Nasser 56, Destiny, Land of Fear, and The City.

Present

Mona Zaki, Egyptian film star

Since mid 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.^[19]

With the beginning of the 21st century, a new generation of film stars appeared, the most famous of whom were Mona Zaki, Ahmed El Sakka, Menna Shalabi, Karim Abdel Aziz, Hend Sabry, Ghada Adel, Ahmed Ezz, Ahmed Helmy, Yasmine Abdulaziz, Mohamed Henedi, Mohamed Saad, Tamer Hosny, Mai Ezz Eldin, Nour, Hany Ramzy, Nelly Karim, Basma, and Dalia El Behery. They starred in many films and were able to achieve success and fame within a short period of time during that period. A few productions, such as 2003's Sleepless Nights, intertwined stories of four bourgeois couples^[26] 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 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."^[27]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.^[28][29]

In the 2010s new films stars entered the Egyptian box, such as: Ahmed Mekky, Ruby, Asser Yassin, Donia Samir Ghanem, Amina Khalil, Ahmed El-Fishawy, Mohamed Emam, Yasmin Raeis, Amr Saad, Hana El Zahed, Bayoumi Fouad, Maged El Kedwany, Amir Karara, Yasmine Sabri, Mohamed Ramadan, Dina El Sherbiny, Hesham Maged, Shiko, and Ahmed Fahmy. There are notable films released in this period, such as; 678, Microphone, Asmaa, The Deal, Decor, Bebo and Beshir, The Blue elephant, Excuse My French, Hepta, Gunshot, X-Large, Papa, After the Battle, Diamond Dust, The Blue elephant 2, The Treasure, Sons of Rizk, The Originals, The Treasure 2, Sheikh Jackson, Casablanca, Sons of Rizk 2, 122, The Crime and others.^[30] During Eid al-Fitr (which is the season of new films in Egypt) for the year 2016, several films were shown in Egyptian theaters, many of them comedies, namely: Crash, Hell in India, Abu Shanab. The film 30 Years Ago was also shown, which is an action and drama film starring a large number of Egyptian artists, including: Ahmed El Sakka, Mona Zaki, Mervat Amin, Sherif Mounir, Nour in the starring roles. In 2017, many films were shown, including: The Cell, Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim, Emergency escape, Brooks, Meadows and Lovely Faces, Lucky Bank, and others.^[31]

Directors

Cinematographers

• Wahid Farid (1919–1998)
• Tarek El-Telmissany (1950–)

Actors and actresses

Film critics

• Samir Farid (1943–2017)
• Tarek El Shennawi

Music Composers

• Ammar El Sherei (1948–2012)
• Ali Ismael (1922–1974)
• Fouad Al-Zahery (1916–1988)
• Moody El Imam (1957–present)
• Omar Khairat (1948–present)
• Rageh Daoud (1954–present)
• Hesham Nazih (1972–present)