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Cairo

The cinema of Egypt refers to the flourishing film industry based in Cairo which is known to be the Hollywood of the MENA region. In 1896, a limited number of silent films was made in Egypt beginning in 1896; 1927's Laila was notable as the first full-length feature. Cairo 's film industry became a regional force with the coming of sound. Between 1930 and 1936, various small studios produced at least 44 feature films. In 1936, Studio Misr, financed by industrialist Talaat Harb, emerged as the leading Egyptian equivalent to Hollywood's major studios, a role the company retained for three decades.

Historians disagree in determining the beginning of cinema in Egypt. Some say in 1896, when the first film was watched in Egypt, while others date the beginning from 20 June 1907 with a short documentary film about the visit of Khedive Abbas Hilmi II to the Institute of Mursi Abul-Abbas in Alexandria. In 1917, the director Mohammed Karim established a production company in Alexandria. The company produced two films: Dead Flowers and Honor the Bedouin, which were shown in the city of Alexandria in early 1918.

Since 1976, the capital has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations. There is also another 12 festivals. Of the more than 4,000 short and feature-length films made in MENA region since 1908, more than three-quarters were Egyptian films. Egyptian films are typically spoken in the Egyptian Arabic dialect. Since then, more than 4,000 films have been produced in Egypt, three quarters of the total Arab production. Historian Samir Kassir notes (2004) that Misr Studios in particular, "despite their ups and downs, were to make Cairo the third capital of the world's film industry, after Hollywood and Bombay but ahead of Italy's Cinecittà." Egypt is the most productive country in the Middle East in the field of film production, and the one with the most developed media system.