Arab cinema or Arabic cinema () refers to the film industry of the Arab world which depends for most of its production on the Egyptian cinema.
Overview
There is no single description of Arab cinema since it includes films from various countries and cultures of the Arab world and therefore does not have one form, structure, or style.
Arab cinema mostly includes films made in Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia; however, by definition, it also includes Bahrain, Djibouti, Jordan, Libya, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
In its inception, Arab cinema was mostly an imitation of Western cinema. However, it has and continues to constantly change and evolve, as each country in the region has its own unique characteristics and identifiable brand of cinema.
Egypt, in particular, is a pioneer among Arab countries in the field of cinema. A sustained film industry was able to emerge in Egypt when other parts of the Arab world had only been able to sporadically produce feature-length films due to limited financing. As such, Arabic cinema is dominated by films from Egypt, where three quarters of all Arab movies are produced. According to film critic and historian Roy Armes, Lebanese cinema is the only other cinema in the Arabic-speaking region that could amount to a national cinema.
While Egyptian and Lebanese films have a long history of production, most other Arab countries did not witness film production until after independence. Even at the end of the 20th century, most film productions in countries like Bahrain, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates are limited to television or short films.
Elsewhere in North Africa and the Middle East, film production was scarce until the late 1960s and early 1970s, when some filmmakers began to receive funding and financial assistance from state organizations. It was during the post-independence era, when Arab cinema in most countries started. Most films produced at that time were funded by the state and contained a nationalistic dimension. These films helped to advance certain social causes such as independence and other social, economic and political agendas.
There is increased interest in films originating in the Arab world. For example, films from Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, and Tunisia have been shown more often in local film festivals and repertoire theaters than during the late 1900s.
Arab cinema has explored many topics from politics, colonialism, tradition, modernity and social taboos. It has also attempted to escape from its earlier tendency to mimic and rely on Western film styles. In fact, colonization did not only influence Arab films, but it also had an impact on Arab movie theaters. Also, the portrayal of women became an important aspect. Arab woman shaped a great portion of the film industry in the Arab world by employing their cinematic talents in improving the popularity of Arab films.
However, the production of Arab cinema has also experienced decline, and filmmakers in the Middle East have been trying to "face up to their reality".
Origins
Full-length feature films began to be produced locally in the Arab world after the 1920s. For instance, the Syrian film (The Innocent Accused), presented in 1928, (The Adventures of Ilyas Mabruk) in Lebanon in 1929, the Egyptian film Layla in 1927. At that time, the process of inserting sound into movies used to be done in Paris, and Egypt was only able to produce two sound films, one titled (Sons of Aristocrats) and the other (The Song of the Heart). Although these films were produced in the Arab world, they mostly were directed, produced, or showed artistic influence from foreigners or immigrants.
Film production in Arab cinema
Arab cinema did not flourish before the national independence of each of them, and even after, the films production of Arab cinema was restricted to short-length films. However, there were exceptions for some of them. For example, Egypt scored the highest number in producing films and produced more than 2,500 feature films. During the 1950s and 1960s Lebanon produced 180 feature films. Two full-length Kuwaiti films were produced at the end of 1970s, and a full-length Bahraini film was produced in 1989. Syria produced around 150 films, Tunisia approximately 130, 100 films were produced each in Algeria and Iraq, almost 70 in Morocco and the films made in Jordan were less than 12.