=_qht F ilms in E gyp t: a traditional industry in transition “ T he H ollywood of the O rient, ” =_yhtÌk Öomrik`in_ file indmktry ik Zaked R evenu es fell aft er t h e revolu t ion on a p ast golden age in Cairo, w h ich h ost s a w orld- class annu al 2 5 J anu ary 2 0 1 1 , compou nded b y F rom t h e 1 9 4 0 s t o t h e 1 9 6 0 s, E gy pt Int ernat ional F ilm F est ival — t h e oldest redmced deeand for =_yhtian filek enj oy ed a t h riving cinema indu st ry . in t h e M iddle E ast — lau nch ed in 1 9 7 6 . aZroad ak MK and Andian filek fomnd Anternationally kmccekkfml filek of t`e Koee filek `ave kmccekkfmlly ac`ieved more favor w it h au diences. E gy pt ian 1 9 5 0 s, inclu ding mu sicals and comedies, b ot h crit ical acclaim and popu lar appeal, filek often ktrm__le to cover t`eir b ecame classics, t h eir st ars screen su ch as S ah ar el Daqadi ( S leepless coktk froe Zop office receihtk$ hmk`in_ legends and t h eir produ cers ( su ch N igh t s) in 2 0 0 3 and Aearat Qacoubian hrodmcerk tooard loo%Zmd_et filek t`at as Y ou ssef Ch ah ine) int ernat ionally ( T h e Y acou b ian B u ilding) in 2 0 0 6 . appeal t o a mass au dience. acclaieed& Koee =_yhtian filek of t`e W it h 2 5 movies produ ced in 2 0 1 3 , E gy pt T h e E gy pt ian movie indu st ry ’ s prob lems 1 9 6 0 s, su ch as El Hara’ or Shay men el reeaink t`e lar_ekt file hrodmcin_ comntry inclu de piracy b y sat ellit e ch annels and Khauf’ remain w idely revered. in Africa and t h e M iddle E ast aft er N igeria. file oeZkitek$ and t`e ktateÌk lacc of =_yht oent on to Zecoee t`e fileeacin_ Y et , t h e nu mb er of produ ct ions h as b een su pport for t h e indu st ry . In t h is climat e, cent er for t h e Arab w orld, produ cing declining since 2 0 1 0 . cinema h as b ecome dependent on t h e aZomt ,( filek a year and coeeandin_ effort s of invest ors, w h o h ave su cceeded an 8 5 % sh are in it s domest ic mark et E gyp tian cinema in crisis in hrodmcin_ `i_`%Zmd_et filek kmc` ak in 2 0 0 8 . M ore t h an 7 5 % of t h e 4 , 0 0 0 =_yhtian file omthmt `ak Zeen adverkely H ani K h alifa’ s Sahar al-Layali ( 2 0 0 3 ) . k`ort and featmre%len_t` filek eade in affect ed b y ch anging polit ical and Arab ic- speak ing cou nt ries since 1 9 8 0 economic u ph eavals in t h e Arab w orld. are E gy pt ian. Dgcal `ejges2 fmebej g^ ^ealmje files hjg\mce\ bq selecle\ A^jicaf cgmfljies ( 2 0 0 9 - 1 3 ) 5 0 4 5 4 3 4 0 3 5 3 3 3 0 2 5 2 5 2 3 2 5 2 2 2 4 2 5 2 0 1 9 1 9 1 6 1 7 1 5 1 7 1 8 1 0 1 3 9 8 5 7 1 4 0 2 0 0 9 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 2 0 1 2 2 0 1 3 E gy pt S ou t h Africa M orocco T u nisia S ou rce: E u ropean Au diovisu al O b servat ory | 7 6 Cultural times L`e Õrst _dobad eah o^ cudturad an\ creatine in\ustries