Cairo International Film Festival International Federation of Film Producers Associations MENA region Egyptian Egyptian Arabic Samir Kassir Misr Studios MENA Bombay Cairo films Egypt national Hollywood film production
Since 1976, the capital has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations. There is also another 12 festivals. Of the more than 4,000 short and feature-length films made in MENA region since 1908, more than three-quarters were Egyptian films. Egyptian films are typically spoken in the Egyptian Arabic dialect. Since then, more than 4,000 films have been produced in Egypt, three quarters of the total Arab production. Historian Samir Kassir notes (2004) that Misr Studios in particular, "despite their ups and downs, were to make Cairo the third capital of the world's film industry, after Hollywood and Bombay but ahead of Italy's Cinecittà." Egypt is the most productive country in the Middle East in the field of film production, and the one with the most developed media system.
