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  1. Dartmouth Libraries
  2. Research Guides
  3. Dartmouth Libraries Guides
  4. Film Studies: National Cinemas
  5. Egypt

Film Studies: National Cinemas

This guide highlights selected resources for various national cinemas.
  • Introduction
  • Streaming services
  • Afghanistan
  • Africa (General)
    • Africa, Northern
    • Africa, French speaking
    • Africa, Sub-Saharan
  • Argentina
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Benelux
  • Brazil
  • Cambodia
  • Canada
    • Quebec
  • Caribbean area
  • Chile
  • Chinese cinema
  • Colombia
  • Cuba
  • Czechia (Czech Republic)
  • France
  • Germany
  • Great Britain
    • Northern Ireland
    • Scotland
    • Wales
  • Greece
  • Hong Kong cinema
  • Hungary
  • India
  • Indigenous films
  • Irish cinema
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Latin America
  • Mexico
  • Middle East
    • Egypt
    • Iran
    • Israel
    • Turkey
  • New Zealand
  • Nigeria
  • Nordic cinema
    • Denmark
    • Finland
    • Iceland
    • Norway
    • Sweden
  • Pakistan
  • Palestine
    • Films by Director
    • Documentaries
    • Films by Title
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Russia & the Soviet Union
  • Slovakia
  • South Africa
  • South America
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Taiwan
  • Thailand
  • United States
    • Puerto Rico
  • Vietnam
  • Yugoslavia & Former Yugoslav Republics
  • Transnational & diasporic cinema
  • Journals & magazines about film

Subject Librarian

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Lucinda M. Hall
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Evans Map Room, Baker-Berry Library
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Subjects: Film and Media Studies, Geography, Polar Studies

Keeping up with Film Studies journal literature

Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for all facets of Film Studies? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's, you can download and read the articles you want from the journals for which we have subscriptions.

You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.

Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's also available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.

Introduction to Egyptian film

Egypt’s earliest moving-image screening—of the Lumières’ Cinématographe in Alexandria on 5 November 1896—was organized for European residents rather than for Egyptians; and the earliest films shot in Egypt—scenes of Alexandria in 1912—were made by a Frenchman. From cinema’s earliest years, in fact, Egypt has figured as a setting for films made by outsiders. Many of these betray an obsession with Ancient Egypt in general and—from a mummy film dated as early as 1909 through Karl Freund’s classic The Mummy (US, 1933) and the 1999 US remake directed by Stephen Sommers—a particular fascination with the figure of the mummy.

     While the Egyptian film industry is the oldest, largest, and most influential in the Arab world (see Arab cinema), local production remained negligible until the coming of sound. The earliest known film made by an Egyptian is a 1922 short, Al bash kateb/The Civil Servant (Mohamed Bayoumi), and it is said that only thirteen Egyptian features were made between 1926 and 1932, the best known being Zeinab (Mohamed Khan, 1930) and Leila ((Istafan Rosti and Wedad Orfi, 1932). Despite competition from films imported from the West, the 1930s saw the beginnings of a relatively successful domestic film industry, helped by substantial backing from Bank Misr: the sophisticated Misr studio opened in 1935.   ...

Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). Egypt, film in. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 14 Apr. 2021

In the library's collections/Searching the online catalog

You can use one of the links below to search the online catalog:

  • motion pictures egypt
    Call number range PN 1993.5 .E3 on Baker Stacks Level 4..
  • motion picture producers and directors egypt
  • motion pictures, egyptian
  • egypt in motion pictures
  • motion pictures africa north
    Call number range PN 1993.5 .A35 on Baker Stacks Level 4.
  • motion pictures africa north history
  • motion picture producers and directors africa north

Introductory reading(s)

  • Cover Art The Arab national project in Youssef Chahine's cinema by Malek Khouri
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9789774163548
    In a major addition to the academic library on the cinema of Youssef Chahine and on Arab and Egyptian cinema in general, Malek Khouri here presents the most comprehensive and up-to-date study on Chahine's work to appear since his death in 2008. The methodological approach of the book, and more precisely the discussion of the theme of Arab national unity from a post-colonial point of view, emphasizes the ideological underpinnings of this Egyptian director's themes as well as his esthetics. The author focuses on the interaction between Chahine's personal and political preoccupations, his eclectic cinematic style, and his devotion to connecting with a wide audience of filmgoers. The Arab National Project in Youssef Chahine's Cinema is an important contribution to original scholarship in the fields of cultural studies, sociology of film, and history of cinema, and will be of great interest to scholars, students, and cinema lovers all over the world.
  • Cover art Film in the Middle East and North Africa: creative dissidence by Josef Gugler, ed.
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .M53 F55 2011
    ISBN: 9780292723276
    This is the first study to cover cinemas from Iran to Morocco. Nine essays present the region's major national cinemas, devoting special attention to the work of directors who have given image and voice to dissent from political regimes, from patriarchal customs, from fundamentalist movements, and from the West. These country essays are complemented by in-depth discussions of eighteen films that have been selected for both their excellence and their critical engagement with pressing current issues.
  • Cover Art The golden years of Egyptian film: cinema Cairo, 1936-1967 by Sherif Boraie, ed.
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .E3 G65 2008
    ISBN: 9789774161735
    Between the 1930s and the 1960s, the Egyptian cinema industry was at its height, producing hundreds of black-and-white comedies, dramas, and romances, many of which became enduring classics, much loved and watched over and over throughout the Arab world in cinemas and on television. Whatever the genre, love was always a central theme--ideal love, impossible love, love won, love lost. Here in this sumptuous, large-format treatment, Sherif Boraie has gathered over a hundred promotional stills from more than eighty great Egyptian movies. In glorious black-and-white, stars who are household names from Casablanca to Baghdad pucker or pout, cower or scowl, clinch or croon, scheme or triumph. ...
  • Cover art The national imaginarium: a history of Egyptian filmmaking by Magdy Mounir El-Shammaa
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9789774169724
    Spanning a century of Egyptian filmmaking, this work weaves together culture, history, politics, and economics to form a narrative of how Egyptian national identity came to be constructed and reconstructed over time on film. It goes beyond the films themselves to explore the processes of filmmaking--the artists that made it possible, the institutional networks, structures, and rules that bound them together, the changing social and political environment in which the films were produced, and the role of the state. ...

Selected book titles

  • Cover art Animation in the Middle East: practice and aesthetics from Baghdad to Casablanca by Stefanie Van de Peer, ed.
    • Book
    Call Number: ShermanArt Library NC 1766 .M628 A55 2017
    ISBN: 9781784533267
    The internationally acclaimed films Persepolis and Waltz with Bashir only hinted at the vibrant animation culture that exists within the Middle East and North Africa. In spite of censorship, oppression and war, animation studios have thrived in recent years - in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Turkey - giving rise to a whole new generation of entrepreneurs and artists. The success of animation in the Middle East is in part a product of a changing cultural climate, which is increasingly calling for art that reflects politics. ...
  • Cover Art Egyptomania goes to the movies: from archaeology to popular craze to Hollywood fantasy by Matthew Coniam
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .E32 C57 2017
    ISBN: 9781476668284
    "Egyptomania," the West's obsession with the strange and magnificent world of Ancient Egypt, has for centuries been reflected in architecture, literature and the performing arts. But the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922, by a sensation-hungry world newly united by mass media, created a wave of fascination unlike anything before. They called it "Tutmania" and its influence was felt everywhere from fashion to home decor to popular music--and notably in the new medium of film. This study traces the origins of 20th century cinema's obsession with Ancient Egypt through previous eras and relates its recurring themes and ideas to the historical reality of the land of the Pharaohs.
  • Cover Art Popular Egyptian cinema: gender, class, and nation by Viola Shafik
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9789774160530
    In this groundbreaking work, film scholar Viola Shafik examines popular and commercial movies from Egypt's film industry, including a number of the biggest box-office hits widely distributed in Egypt and the Arab world. Turning a critical eye on a major player in Egyptian cultural life, Shafik examines these films against the backdrop of the country's overall socio-political development, from the emergence of the film industry in the 1930s, through the Nasser and Sadat eras, up to the era of globalization. ...
  • Cover Art Youssef Chahine by Ibrahim Fawal
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1998.3 .S467 F39 2001
    ISBN: 9780851708584
    A discussion of the frequently controversial film maker Youssef Chahine. The book aims to illuminate Chahine's work in the context of modern Egyptian culture and its tumultuous post-war history and how such films as Cairo Station (1958), The Earth (1959) and The Sparrow (1973) dramatized the dilemmas of ordinary Egyptians. He also argues that Chahine's intensely autobiographical trilogy Alexandria...Why? (1978), An Egyptian Story (1985) and Alexandria ... More and More (1989) spoke to the concerns of the broader Egyptian intelligentsia amongst whom he has earned the reputation of being the "poet and thinker" of modern Arab cinema. ...

Other library resource(s)

  • Resource logo African cinema from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Frank Ukadike
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    ISBN: 9780199791286
    The term “African cinema” generally refers to film production in Sub-Saharan African countries. Compared to the other national cinemas in the world, African cinema can be said to be a recent phenomenon that for many countries within this region only began to materialize after independence in the 1960s. ...

Finding scholarly articles and journal title(s)

You can find scholarly literature for film and television studies in a variety of journals. However, if you want to do targeted searching, you can use a subject specific database such as Film & Television Literature Index. You can also use the search box at the top of the page.

  • Resource logo Film & television literature index
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    This index covers over 300 journal and magazine titles for film and television reviews, scholarly and critical analysis of cinema and television, and articles of popular interest about film and television. About half the journals and magazines are film periodicals and the other half cover film and television with some regularity. Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews.
  • Resource logo Index Islamicus
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    Use the term "cinema" to search in this database.
  • Resource logo Screen studies collection by ProQuest
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    A comprehensive survey of current publications related to film scholarship alongside detailed filmographies. This collection includes the FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals Database and the detailed and complementary filmographies created by the American Film Institute (AFI) and the British Film Institute.
  • Resource logo The web of science citation databases by ISI (Institute for Scientific Information)
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    The online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.

Selected movie titles

Find more Egyptian film titles in the library's online catalog.

  • Cover Art Haddūtah Miṣrīyah = An Egyptian story by Yūsuf Shāhīn
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #628
    ISBN: 9781572528857
    Yehia, now a famous Egyptian director, becomes ill with a heart condition that requires surgery. During the operation, a child embodying his conscience accuses him of betraying his ideals. A trial ensues, in which various witnesses testify about "the defendant." Yehia is forced to confront hidden feelings involving his life, work and country. The child conscience loses the trial, and a redundant organ is expelled from Yehia's body. Will he survive the ordeal?
  • Movie poster art Lāunām = Sleepless = Les nuits blanches by Ṣalāḥ Abū Sayf
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #21013
    The film follows the intricate story of Nadia Lutfi, a daughter of divorced parents who suffers from Electra complex, which drives her to intervene in her father's relationships.
  • Sereṭ ʻAravit = Fīlm ʻArabī = Arabic movie by Eyal Śagi Biz'aṿi; Śarah Tsifroni
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #21631
    So many Israelis still wax nostalgic about that old Friday afternoon ritual, back in the times when television had just one channel. Everyone would watch the Arab movie of the week, but did anybody ever wonder how Israel's official TV station was able to transcend hostile boundaries to obtain these films, and why it insisted on showing movies made by 'the enemy'? The Arabic-language movie from Egypt let some of us escape back to our original homeland, and let others peek out from our 'villa in the jungle' and catch a glimpse of our neighbors across the border. But most of us didn't really want to see the people whose culture, anguish, and aspirations were reflected on our screens. Arabic Movie brings us the stars and the songs, the convoluted plots, and that fleeting moment when we shared the same cultural heroes as everyone else in the Middle East. But this film about the richness and intensity of Egyptian cinema also raises some disturbing questions.
  • ʻIndamā tughannī al-marʼah = Quand la femme chante = When a woman sings by Mustafa Hasnaoui
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #20560
    This film examines the impact singers Umm Kulthum and Mounira El-Mahdeya had on Egyptian politics and society during the first half of the 20th century. Through classic film clips, interviews with musicians and scholars, and taped interviews with the two singers themselves, we learn just how far-reaching their influence was.

Internet resource(s)

  • The 10 Best Egyptian Movies Every Film Lover Should See from Culture Trip
    • Link
    Egyptian cinema is a flourishing industry, which has spawned an exceptional selection of features over the decades. From epic love stories and heart-wrenching social dramas to political panoramas, these films portray the rich culture that Egypt has to offer, and its influence on the international scene. ...
  • Arab Film Distribution
    • Link
    Distributors of Arab films.
  • << Previous: Middle East
  • Next: Iran >>
  • Last Updated: Jun 11, 2025 2:41 PM
  • URL: https://researchguides.dartmouth.edu/nationalcinemas
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Subjects: Film and Media Studies
Tags: afghanistan, africa, Arts, Australia, Austria, Benelux, Cambodia, Canada, Caribbean, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Czechia, Denmark, Egypt, film_studies, Finland, France, Francophone Africa, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indigenous films, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, Nordic cinema, North Africa, Norway, Palestine, Poland, Puerto Rico, Slovakia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Vietnam, world_cinema, Yugoslavia

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