It was less than a year after their Paris premiere, that the Lumiere brothers showed the first of their short films in Alexandria, Egypt on the 5th of November 1896. Hosted at the Stock Exchange of Tussun Pasha, Egypt would have been the first nation on the African continent to engage in such an endeavor, poising themselves as front runners of cinema in the region. Since that day, Egypt has experienced a colorful history of film and cinema and was often referred to as “Hollywood of the Orient”. With the establishment of Egypt’s first cinema studio in Cairo in 1923, Egypt experienced its “golden age” of cinema between 1940 and 1960, with a reported at least 50 films produced annually in this time. Many of these films, across genres and eras, have been lost to the tests of time as we look back on the advent of Egyptian cinema. Today, as we approach the start of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) as well as the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) in 2022, we are given an opportunity to experience these “lost” films once again-thanks to the extensive film restoration project undertaken by Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
This would not be the first time that Egypt has taken it upon themselves to restore their films of the past. In 2004, the Founoon Film Distribution Company initiated Egypt’s first film restoration project. In an endeavor to preserve Egypts’ rich film history, they began restoring as many old prints as they could-and did so successfully. Not only were many films restored, but they were also re-released in DVD format for the masses to enjoy. Unfortunately, due to the high cost of restoration as well as the poor DVD sales, the Founoon Film Distribution Company was forced to abandon this project entirely. A few years later the company was acquired by Rotana.
The urge to further preserve Egyptian cinema was not lost however, and in June 2014, Rotana announced its’ desire to continue the film restoration project started by Founoon about a decade earlier. By this time, the project would prove to be a lot more difficult, as the original film and prints that were kept in sub-optimum storage were experiencing what is known as “vinegar syndrome”. This is when film material (because of time and aging) begin to release acetic acid, which denatures and decays the film material itself, causing it to shrink and leaving it extremely fragile. At this point, traditional restoration methods would not suffice due to its’ vulnerable state and could potentially damage the film forever. It is only due to the help of Prasar Bharati, a company based in India, that more advanced methods of restoration could be implemented to save the old film material. With technological assistance, Rotana began restoring hundreds of relics from Egyptian Cinema and announced to restore thousands more.
Today, this endeavor is still ongoing. With the rapid changes in technology, the Rotana group has had to alter its’ distribution methods. Still wary of the unsuccessful launch of DVD’s by Founoon, the company has toyed with the idea of utilizing internet streaming services to distribute these films, using mediums such as iTunes and Netflix for potential releases.
One will be able to witness the fruits of this labor during the weeks of the Red Sea International Film Festival (1st-10th December) as well as the Cairo International Film Festival (13th-22nd November), where it has been announced that 4 beloved Egyptian films, undergone their restoration, will be premiered. In Cairo, the films “Oghneya Ala El Mamar” and “Maze of Justice: Diary of a Country Prosecutir” will be available for an overdue viewing at the CIFF. Similarly, in Jeddah the films “Khali Balak Min ZoZo” and “Gharam Fi El Karnak” will be viewable at the RSIFF.
