Cinematic street poster in Tunis, Tunisia for the Egyptian film Saladin the Victorious (1963, Arabic: الناصر صلاح الدين, Al Nasser Salah Ad-Din) directed by Youssef Chahine starring Ahmed Mazhar as Saladin, Salah Zulfikar, Nadia Lutfi and others.
Cinema of Africa covers both the history and present of the making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture. It dates back to the early 20th century, when film reels were the primary cinematic technology in use. During the colonial era, African life was shown only by the work of white, colonial, Western filmmakers, who depicted Africans in a negative fashion, as exotic "others".[1] As there are more than 50 countries with audiovisual traditions, there is no one single 'African cinema'. Both historically and culturally, there are major regional differences between North African and sub-Saharan cinemas, and between the cinemas of different countries.[1]
The Cinema of Egypt and the Cinema of Tunisia are among the oldest in the world. Cinema of Egypt in particular is the most established and flourishing industry in Africa.[2][3] Pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumière screened their films in Alexandria, Cairo, Tunis, Susa, Libya and Hammam-Lif, Tunisia in 1896.[4][5] Albert Samama Chikly is often cited as the first producer of indigenous African cinema, screening his own short documentaries in the casino of Tunis as early as December 1905.[6] Alongside his daughter Haydée Tamzali, Chikly would go on to produce important early milestones such as 1924's The Girl from Carthage. In 1927, Egypt produced Laila the first feature-length film by Aziza Amir. In 1935, the Studio Misr in Cairo began producing mostly formulaic comedies and musicals, but also films like Kamal Selim's The Will (1939). Egyptian cinema flourished in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, considered its Golden Age.[7] Youssef Chahine's seminal Cairo Station (1958) laid the foundation for Arab film.[8]
The Nigerian film industry is the largest in Africa in terms of volume, number of annual films, revenue and popularity.[9][10][11] It is also the second largest film producer in the world.[12] In 2016, Nigeria's film industry contributed 2.3% to its gross domestic product (GDP).[12]
^ abHayward, Susan. "Third World Cinemas: African Continent" in Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts (Third Edition). Routledge, 2006. p. 426-442
^Gaffney, Jane (1987). "The Egyptian Cinema: Industry and Art in a Changing Society". Arab Studies Quarterly. 9 (1): 53–75. ISSN 0271-3519. JSTOR 41857918.
^Leaman, Oliver (2003-12-16). Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781134662524.
^"Alexandria, Why? (The Beginnings of the Cinema Industry in Alexandria)". Bibliotheca Alexandrina's AlexCinema.
^"Three Programmes". Cinema Ritrovato. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
^"The Golden Age of Egyptian Cinema – the 1940s to 1960s". Archived from the original on 2017-11-25. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
^"African Cinema: Invisible Classics". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2012-08-03.
^"Top 10 film industries in Africa". afriff.com. AFRIFF African International Film Festival. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
^"Nigeria surpasses Hollywood as world's second largest film producer – UN". un.org. United Nations. 2009-05-05. Archived from the original on 2013-03-09. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
^"Nigeria's Nollywood eclipsing Hollywood in Africa". The Independent. May 15, 2010. Archived from the original on May 18, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-24.
^ ab"Spotlight: The Nigerian Film Industry" (PDF). July 2017.
CinemaofAfrica covers both the history and present of the making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved...
The cinemaof South Africa refers to the films and film industry of South Africa. Films have been made in English and Afrikaans (List of Afrikaans-language...
such as the "Nigerialization ofAfrica". Since the mid-2000s, during the decline of the video-film era, the Nigerian cinema has undergone some restructuring...
African American cinema is loosely classified as films made by, for, or about Black Americans. Historically, African American films have been made with...
assembly of film professionals that desired to promote Africancinema. These film professionals, several of whom were women, began to establish organizations...
Southern Africa for stone and thatch/wood. CinemaofAfrica covers both the history and present of the making or screening of films on the African continent...
is a list ofcinemaof the world by continent and country. CinemaofAfricaCinemaof Asia South Asian cinema Southeast Asian cinemaCinemaof North America...
Nigeria. Filmhouse Cinemas (West Africa) – with 13 cinemas as of 2022, it is the largest cinema chain in West Africa in terms of location numbers. It...
three-quarters of the Arab world's screen output. It has had a large effect on the African and Arab film industry since the early 20th century. Egyptian cinema is...
vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text. Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based...
objectives. Kampala Film School Uganda Maisha Film Lab Uganda The New Wave of Ultra-Violent Ugandan DIY Action Cinema: Wakaliwood on YouTube. VICE News...
Cinemaof Ghana also known as the Ghana Film Industry nicknamed Ghallywood, began when early film making was first introduced to the British colony of...
The Festival ofAfricanCinema (FCAT), also known as Tarifa-Tangier African Film Festival, originally African Film Showcase of Tarifa (Muestra de Cine...
ten years.[needs update] Senegal is the capital ofAfricancinema and the most important place ofAfrican film production after its independence from France...
worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of the greatest and most influential actors and filmmakers in the history of Indian cinema, and has been referred...
The Cinemaof India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century...
The cinemaof Burkina Faso is one of the more significant in Africa, with a history that spans several decades and includes the production of many award-winning...
Directory of World CinemaAfrica. Vol. 39. Intellect Books. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-78320-391-8. Valérie K. Orlando (2017). New AfricanCinema. Rutgers University...
Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely...
Eastern cinema collectively refers to the film industries of West Asia and part of North Africa. By definition, it encompasses the film industries of Egypt...
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA or R.S.A.), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres...
and Wolof-language films and became the "father" ofAfricanCinema. In Latin America, the dominance of the "Hollywood" model was challenged by many film...
first half of the 20th century, Casablanca had many movie theaters, such as Cinema Rialto, Cinema Lynx and Cinema Vox—the largest in Africa at the time...
Bhojpuri cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Bhojpuri language widely spoken in the state of Eastern...
French cinema consists of the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad...
Cinemaof Algeria refers to the film industry based in the north African country of Algeria. During the era of French colonization, movies were predominantly...
The cinemaof the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known metonymously as Hollywood) along with some independent films, has...
Global Information