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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