Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

This study examines the crisis in the Egyptian film industry since 2008, drawing on research interviews with film producers and directors in Cairo during December 2014, January 2015, and January 2016. They bring attention to the industry’s problems and articulated them as a crisis, often by using the media to address the public, ministerial committees and President Al-Sisi himself to encourage state support. After the 2008 global financial crisis and declining advertising revenues, television channels retreated from buying new films. Piracy through television contributed to further decline after the 2011 revolution. The many curfews and lack of security during political upheaval severely impacted filmgoing. Film censorship has been unpredictable and susceptible to the idiosyncrasies of government organisations. An oligopoly of producers, distributors, and exhibitors has reduced production in a risky marketplace. The paper gives a sense of the negotiations between filmmakers, media industries, and the state in turbulent times.