The movie business in Egypt (page 3 of 3)

Theater owners see ticket sales dwindle fast, and the trickle-down effect spreads across the industry. Everybody, except the pirates, loses big.

Fortunately, there is a large global market for Egyptian movies, with big Arab populations in Australia, the United States, Canada and Europe. And, in today's white-hot political climate, it would surely help to broadcast Arab culture around the world. Al-Deghedy, though, doubts that foreigners want to listen. "The problem is not from the Arab side, but with the Europeans and other foreigners. They do not want to understand or listen to what the Arabs have to say. They have a fixed picture; they stick to these ideas." Of cinematic classic Lawrence of Arabia, Lowell Thomas said: "They only got two things right: the camels and the sand."

There is also a language barrier standing in the way of movie exports. Non-English language movies from European countries have found some success by including subtitles in English. However, this is not the standard practice with Egyptian movies - and as a result many people who might watch an Egyptian movie do not. Al-Deghedy says subtitles will not make much of a difference because there is no real market, and subtitles do not communicate everything of the language. Still, English-language dubbing on Arab movies could broaden their appeal.

Al-Deghedy says there are other challenges in taking Arab movies to the world. "Some of the technical standards of the films do not meet the required standards for projection in Europe and America," she says. There is also a cultural gap. "The ideas, the scenario itself and the treatment of the situations are completely different from Western ideas," she says. "We always have exaggeration in our filming, whatever the genre. American and European movies treat these situations in a completely different way."

Al-Deghedy has found it difficult to film in Europe, facing similar problems as production companies considering Egypt as a location. "It is not easy because there is a European movie industry mafia; they do not allow Arab films to penetrate in Europe," she says. "Even though there are many Arab movies winning competitions, they cannot be seen in any theater."
Back in Egypt, al-Deghedy says Egyptian film companies face the same costs and red tape as foreign companies: "Egyptian producers pay exactly the same fees; it is not just a position against European films. Problems with censors and the routine are the same for Egyptian movies."

Egypt has missed out on some lucrative moviemaking because of red tape. The most talked-about was The English Patient, a film set in Egypt that was filmed in Tunisia. Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Star Wars sequels also might have chosen Egypt, but went for Tunisia instead. With Egypt's history, and excellent resort and desert locations, the country ought to be much sought-after as a film location. If Egypt made more of an effort to attract filmmakers, it would have a substantial source of foreign currency coming in, publicity for its tourism industry and the opportunity to channel revenues into the domestic movie industry.

Nabil Shazly, an agent for foreign productions with Misr International Films, reckons that Egypt lost out on $5 million for The English Patient alone. "Our company deals with an average 10-15 approaches by foreign productions a year," he said recently. "If there are terrorist incidents, we lose all of them. If not, we still lose 50-80 percent, anyway."

The challenges are clear: red tape has to be slashed, government bureaucrats removed from the production loop, filmmaking facilities modernized, piracy fought and distribution improved. And there's one last, fundamental challenge. Egypt has to start making much better movies - just like it used to.