Tagged Articles
Showing all articles tagged 'cinema'
A country's heritage is not only safeguarded in museums. Methodical collectors who give access to their collections contribute in no small way to cultural preservation. This is the story of a passionate collector who preserves little snippets of Egypt’s history, one stamp at a time.
The years following the Second World War saw Egyptian cinema mature, paving the way for a new generation of filmmakers who were not afraid to experiment and innovate.
A tour of Egyptian film archives—or lack thereof—given by the archivist of Cairo’s Cimatheque, an alternative film centre in Downtown Cairo dedicated to celebrating the diversity, beauty and power of film from Egypt and beyond.
A national project that mirrored the shifting political tides and left an erratic legacy both supported and hindered by state control.
The story of how the state supported the production of some of the most progressive and innovative films in the Egyptian film cannon.
Following the 1952 revolution, a newly independent Egypt was rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with on the international stage, but its cinema industry was still only regional in scope. In 1953, celebrated director Fateen Abdel Wahab, representing the Syndicate of Egyptian Filmmakers, wrote a report identifying the obstacles holding back the Egyptian cinema industry.
A great star of Egyptian cinema, Mary Queeny took her first steps in the industry in 1929. As an actress, scriptwriter, film editor, etc., she gained experience in all aspects of filmmaking. Today, she is co-owner of Studio Galal with her son Nader and has produced some of the biggest productions in the Arab world.
Egyptian cinema owes a large measure of gratitude to the indomitable women who shaped the industry in its early days. They challenged convention and overcame tremendous societal pressure to establish the first production companies, build state-of-the-art studios and lay the foundation for the industry’s future successes.
With its world-class facilities and lavish productions, Studio Misr transformed the scattered individual efforts of Egyptian filmmakers into a thriving cinema industry and introduced us to many of the directors and stars of the future.
Egyptian cinema owes its beginnings to a group of intrepid Alexandrians who turned their fascination with a modern technology into a thriving industry.