Word Cinema and Global media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Word Cinema and Global media - Essay Example 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. 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