Studio Misr (Eng: "Egypt Studio"), also known as Studios Misr, is a film studio established in

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza''; , , ' ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of ...

, Egypt, in 1935 by the economist Talaat Harb. Owned and staffed by Egyptians, it is known as "The Studio of Egypt". For three decades, it was the Egyptian equivalent to Hollywood's major studios.

History

Background

Economist and financier Talaat Harb, realised the cultural and economic impact of cinema, as films began to be made in the 1920s. At a time when feature films were being made in a few very basic film studios established first in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

and then

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, he created the Misr Company for Acting and Cinema (MCAC), also known as Egyptian Acting and Cinema Company, which produced documentaries to promoted the Egyptian film industry. After realising that

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

s were the future of the industry, he laid the groundwork for a studio which would to provide facilities for local filmmakers to shoot and

edit Edward Ma, known professionally as edIT, is an American electronic music producer and DJ based in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Glitch Mob. History After growing up in Boston, Edward Ma began his career as a DJ and got into music produ ...

feature films in Egypt. He first sent four young men ( Ahmed Badrakhan, Maurice Kassab, Mohamed Abdel Azim, and Hassan Mourad) to study in Germany, which then led the world in film production. Harb then recruited experts in various aspects of filmmaking, employed director Fritz Kramp, and purchased the latest equipment. He built a

state-of-the-art The state of the art (SOTA or SotA, sometimes cutting edge, leading edge, or bleeding edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contex ...

auditorium, Cinema Studio Misr, to help finance further equipment needed for the new studio. The luxurious new cinema was located in Emad al-Din Street, replacing an old cinema.

Opening and success

The new studio, known as Studio Misr, or Studios Misr according to the signage outside the building, was officially opened on 12 October 1935. Studio Misr's first film was '' Weddad'' (1936), the first film to star the singer

Umm Kulthum Umm Kulthum (; 31 December 1898 – 3 February 1975) was an Egyptians, Egyptian singer and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title (). Immensely popular throughout the Middle East and beyond, Umm Kul ...

. In 1939 Studio Misr made four films, including '' The Will'' (1939), 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.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, many poor-quality but commercially successful films were created by people wanting to earn profit, and the studio was affected by this type of competition. In 1946, Studio Misr made three films - including ''Black Market'' (1946) - out of a total of 52 Egyptian films.

Nationalisation

In 1960, the studio was

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with ...

by the government of

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

Demise

The studio later changed hands several times, but it never regained its former success, and eventually fell into disrepair and later closed.

Significance and impact

Several other studios were founded in Cairo in the wake of the success of Misr, including

Al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...

, Nassibian (incorrectly spelt Nassabian or Nasabian in some sources), Galal, and Nahhas, although none attained the same stature.

References

{{Authority control 1935 establishments in Egypt Film production companies of Egypt Mass media companies established in 1935 1935 in film