Historic Tradition of Egyptian Cinema - Essay Example

Egyptian Cinema Introduction Egyptian cinema serves as a watershed for Middle Eastern cinema as a whole. One of the chief reasons for this following is the volume of production in the Egyptian film industry. Another major factor is the prominence and historical tradition of Egyptian cinema that helped to define the film industry in various countries around the region such as Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain and others. The bulk of distribution and exhibition in the Egyptian film industry stems from local productions that have had a near consistent presence for decades. However, the presence of foreign films within Egyptian film circles is undeniable as foreign films are imported and shown across Egypt. Most of these foreign films are from Hollywood but there are some other regional variations as well. Overall the Egyptian film industry has had a large and dominating role to play in the regional film industry even though it has had to see ups and downs. This paper will attempt to analyze the various contours of production, distribution and exhibition of Egyptian and foreign films within the Egyptian cinematic domains. A brief history of the Egyptian cinematic tradition will be traced first so that the current standing is reflected more clearly. 2. Historic Tradition of Egyptian Cinema Egyptian cinema has had a long tradition that is comparable to other Third World cinematic traditions such as those in India, Brazil and Mexico. Silent films were already being made in Egypt around 1896 though these were not full length feature films. Egyptian cinema was prolific from the start especially after the introduction of sound to films. It is estimated that only between 1930 and 1936 the Egyptian film industry was able to contribute some forty films that were produced by small production studios (Darwish, 1998). The rise of Egyptian cinema in its earliest years led to its early independence during the colonization period. The subsequent independence of Egyptian cinema made it appear as a threat to the colonists such as the French in neighboring Morocco. The extent of the trouble was such that the French established a new department of African problems that was solely responsible for creating production in Morocco to counter the influence of Egyptian cinema. Following independence in the wake of the Second World War and the subsequent revolution in 1952, the Egyptian cinematic tradition assumed political dimensions. Film producers, directors and critics alike shared a common zeal to inject political problems into the cinema to make people more aware (Schochat, 1983). The prolific decades of the forties and fifties were soon silenced by the nationalization of the film industry by Nasser that could be considered complete by 1966 (Ramzi, June 2000). In subsequent years the Egyptian cinema began to move from political problems to pure entertainment related issues only. However this move was not composed of a few years but rather spanned an entire decade or so where Egyptian films began to strike a balance between political issue and entertainment (Anis, July 2001). The Egyptian film industry began to witness a decline in the late seventies and throughout the eighties because film production began to concentrate on small quick flicks that sought to make quick money. Over time the Egyptian cinema, which was once producing over a hundred films a year, declined to merely a dozen or so films by the mid-nineties. However, the production of small quick flicks was reversed in 1997 with the production of a comedy film Ismailia Rayeh Gayy that was able to bring audiences back to the cinema once more (El Bakry, 2006). After the commercial success of Ismailia, Egyptian cinema has been dominated more or less by comedy flicks in quick succession. The decline of Egyptian films in previous decades meant that audiences took to Western productions. The early twenty first century saw the battle between Egyptian comedy flicks and Western films to claim audiences throughout Egypt (Farid, November 2006). This trend began to change a little around 2005 when more serious issues such as decline in youth, sexual attitudes in society and other taboo issues began to resonate on cinema screens. This move demonstrated that Egyptian cinema was beginning to mature so that it reflected social issues through the lens. Furthermore, the Egyptian cinema was also able to counter the influence of foreign films better especially as the number of productions increased and their covered topics began to diversify. There were only sixteen films produced in Egypt in 1997 but this number rose to forty in 2007 indicating a progressive change. Moreover, Egyptian films managed to earn around $50 million compared to $10 million for American films in 2007 (A Bridge to Egypt, 2012). 3. Current Trends in Egyptian Cinema The Egyptian cinema was serving as a propaganda arm of the Egyptian government since after its nationalization. However all of this changed with the protests at Tahrir Square which toppled the regime of Hosni Mubarak. The protracted censorship and control over Egyptian cinema seems to be waning in the wake of changed socio-political circumstances but it is too early as yet to settle a direction for the entire affair. After the start of the protests, the Egyptian film industry has been on the suffering end. Regular curfews and restrictions to move freely around in urban areas have meant that the number of cinema goers has decreased drastically. For the year 2010, the average revenue from Western films decreased in Egypt from $8.8 million to only $6.3 million because of the political environment. The curfew in urban areas was only lifted in May which means that cinema goers rarely showed up before or after May. In a similar manner, Egyptian productions suffered as well though they suffered more than Western films. The revenue for Egyptian productions decreased from $16.7 million to roughly under a quarter of that value between January and July 2010. Additionally the onslaught of the current revolution has meant that new productions suffered as per their schedule so previously produced low budget films were all that cinemas around Egypt had to offer. Traditionally Egyptian films and Western films have had a near constant exhibition ratio of 80 to 20 but given the recent decline in the Egyptian film industry, Western films are already picking up. Western films took a lead of $90,000 on Egyptian films in the period between May 2010 and Ramadan (nearly September 2010) (Hoad, 2011). This indicates that the traditional balance between Egyptian and foreign films may see a progressive shift towards foreign especially American films. 4. Film Production in Egypt The average production of films within Egypt has amounted to roughly fifty films being produced each year. The early period of Egyptian cinema saw the production of a few films within a decade or so but the more prolific era of the forties and fifties saw around a hundred or more productions each year. This continued well into the seventies after which formula films reduced cinema appeal reducing the number of films to a dozen or so each year. In more recent years, film production in Egypt went up but the political circumstances in the country have meant that this is bound to decrease sooner or later. On another note, the budget available to Egyptian films is more of a guessing game than reflecting on actual facts and figures. One of the largest causes for ineffective reporting in Egyptian cinema’s budgets is the sponsorship made available by the government. This trend has continued well into recent years and has only been reversed in wake of the political turmoil in Egypt. Estimates by Schochat (1983) have put the annual budget of filmmaking in Egypt at some one and a half million Egyptian pounds for the eighties and decades preceding it. The other real figures presented for Egyptian film production stem from the 2006 production titled Imarat Yacoubian (The Yacoubian Building) which hailed a budget of $400 million making it the most expensive Arab film ever made (Martin, 2008). Overall Egyptian films have had a modest budget when put into the international perspective but Egyptian productions have had larger budgets than most productions in the region. In regional terms the Egyptian cinema is seen as the mammoth of the Arab world in the context of budgeting. Funds for production have stemmed from a variety of sources including private producers, investors as well as the government. The latter has had the greatest interest in funding Egyptian cinema in order to use it as a propaganda machine. Egyptian films have received attention in foreign countries as well specially in context of its regional neighbors such as Syria and Lebanon. Both the Syrian and the Lebanese cinema look to the Egyptian cinema for direction so it is no surprise that Egyptian films tend to do well in these markets. Moreover, some Egyptian art films have been showcased and awarded internationally in terms of their visual portrayals as well as the nature of the issue being portrayed (A Bridge to Egypt, 2012). Cinema going habits are strong in Egypt given the long history and tradition of Egyptian cinema. In recent years the Egyptian cinema has had to face tough competition from Arab soap operas that are available for viewing in thirty or so episodes (A Bridge to Egypt, 2012). The waning quality of films being produced as well as the recent political circumstances have meant that cinema going habits are on the decline in Egypt. There are no official surveys or statistics to delineate the number of cinema goers but the trend of youth to go to cinemas in Egypt is indicatively higher than in other Arab nations. Furthermore, the cinema going proportion is higher in the urban centers when compared to rural areas largely due to socio-economic differences. Cinemas are available in all major cities and urban centers in Egypt while there is also a concept of mini-cinemas in the smaller towns and rural regions. 5. References A Bridge to Egypt, 2012. Egyptian Cinema Resources. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.abridgetoegypt.com/entertainment/egyptian_cinema/egyptian_movie_industry" http://www.abridgetoegypt.com/entertainment/egyptian_cinema/egyptian_movie_industry [Accessed 25 March 2012]. Anis, M., July 2001. Before the public gaze. Ahram, (540). Darwish, M., 1998. Dream Makers on the Nile: A Portrait of Egyptian Cinema. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. El Bakry, R., 2006. Reeling them in. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.mafhoum.com/press9/283C34.htm" http://www.mafhoum.com/press9/283C34.htm [Accessed 25 March 2012]. Farid, S., November 2006. An Egyptian story. Ahram, (821). Hoad, P., 2011. Will Egypts revolution extend to the cinema? [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2011/aug/30/egypt-revolution-cinema-hollywood" http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2011/aug/30/egypt-revolution-cinema-hollywood [Accessed 25 March 2012]. Martin, J.D., 2008. CINEMATIC CENSORSHIP IN SYRIA AND EGYPT: THE NEED FOR CROSS‐NATIONAL RESEARCH ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN THE ARAB WORLD. Investigation. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ramzi, A., June 2000. Rendezvous at the snooker club. Ahram, (487). Schochat, E., 1983. Egypt: Cinema and Revolution. Critical Arts, 2(4), pp.22-32. Read More