Dating to the early 1950s, probably 1951, and produced by the Hamilton Wright Organization for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this short film shows the nascent Egyptian film industry. At :50, Samia Gamal, an Egyptian belly dancer and film actress, is shown. At 1:15, a director standing next to a Mitchell 35mm movie camera gives her direction. At 1:36 Gamal moves in front of reflectors which light her path. The narrator mentions that the films being made in Egypt are made to certain standards of morality and feature clean content. At 2:01, inside the sound stage of the Studio Misr. This was a film studio established in Egypt in 1934 by the economist Talaat Harb. Owned and staffed by Egyptians, it was known as ‘The Studio of Egypt’. For three decades it was the leading Egyptian equivalent to Hollywood’s major studios. At 2:26 the Al-Ahram Studio is shown, with its large soundstages. At 3:26 the narrator comments about how the Arab speaking peoples of the world want their own films. At 3:37 another film studio is shown, with modern buildings and soundstages. At 3:48, a fight scene is shown in rehearsal. Egypt at this time had 226 movie theaters, according to the narrator. At 4:17, a color test is shot of an actress. At 4:28, an Egyptian western is filmed. At 5:06, huge cinemas are shown in downtown Cairo.
Studio Misr’s first film was Wedad (1936), the first film to star the singer Umm Kulthum. In 1939 Studio Misr made four films, including Determination, out of a total of fifteen Egyptian films. Facing difficulty raising capital in the 1940s, Studio MISR reduced its emphasis on direct film production, increasingly renting out its development, printing and editing facilities to other Arab filmmakers. In 1946, for example, Studio MISR made three films – including Black Market – out of a total of 52 Egyptian films.
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