Cinema of Egypt in the context of "Cinema of Africa"

Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian, or simply as Masri, is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic variety in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and originated in the Nile Delta in Lower Egypt. The estimated 111 million Egyptians speak a continuum of dialects, among which Cairene is the most prominent. It is also understood across most of the Arabic-speaking countries due to broad Egyptian influence in the region, including through Egyptian cinema and Egyptian music. These factors help make it the most widely spoken and by far the most widely studied variety of Arabic.

While it is primarily a spoken language, the written form is used in novels, plays and poems (vernacular literature), as well as in comics, advertising, some newspapers and transcriptions of popular songs. In most other written media and in radio and television news reporting, literary Arabic is used. Literary Arabic is a standardized language based on the language of the Qur'an, i.e. Classical Arabic. The Egyptian vernacular is almost universally written in the Arabic alphabet for local consumption, although it is commonly transcribed into Latin letters or in the International Phonetic Alphabet in linguistics text and textbooks aimed at teaching non-native learners. Egyptian Arabic's phonetics, grammatical structure, and vocabulary are influenced by the Coptic language; its rich vocabulary is also influenced by Turkish and by European languages such as French, Italian, Greek, and English.

Salah El-Din Ahmed Mourad Zulfikar (Arabic: صلاح ذو الفقار, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [sˤɑˈlɑːħ zol fɑqˈqɑːr]; 18 January 1926 – 22 December 1993) was an Egyptian actor and film producer. He started his career as a police officer, before becoming an actor in 1956. He is regarded as one of the most influential actors in the history of Egyptian film industry, who had notable roles in over a hundred feature films in multiple genres during his 37-year career, mostly as the leading actor. Late in his career, he had considerable success in television roles.

Born to a noble family, Zulfikar graduated from the Egyptian Police Academy in 1946. He was one of Egypt's heroes in its battle against the occupation while serving in the police. His son, entrepreneur Ahmed Zulfikar, mentioned in a 1994 press interview that his father participated in the guerrilla war in Ismailia against the British Forces in 1944, and described his patriotism as having been “without limits”. Afterwards, Zulfikar volunteered in the Battle of Ismailia of 1952, and in the 1956 Suez War. He was awarded the Medal of Military Duty (first class) from Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, in appreciation for his efforts in serving his country.

Arab cinema or Arabic cinema (Arabic: السينما العربية, romanized: al-sīnemā al-ʿArabīyah) refers to the film industry of the Arab world. Most productions come from Egyptian cinema, and Cairo has been the capital of film industry in the Arab world since the early 20th century to the present day.

The first screening of a motion picture in Egypt occurred in Alexandria in 1896 by the French Lumière Brothers. The Egyptian industry developed from silent movies to talkies, with musicals being the bulk of the productions in the 1930s and 1940s. Of the first Arab-produced films was the 1923 Egyptian film Barsoum Looking for a Job, and Laila, released in Egypt in 1927, while the first Arabic speaking film was Awlad El-Zawat, also released in Egypt in 1932. Studio Misr, founded in 1935, was the first national studio of its kind in the Arab world. The period from the late 1940s to 1960s has been described as "the golden age of Arab cinema", as Arab actors from across the Middle East headed to stardom in Cairo. During this period, notable actors included Hind Rostom, Mahmoud el-Meliguy, Anwar Wagdi, Feyrouz and Soad Hosny. In the 1950s, Egypt's cinema industry was the world's third largest. In 1952, the Egyptian Catholic Center for Cinema Festival was founded to become the first annual film festival in the Arab World. In 1976, the Cairo International Film Festival was established, becoming the first International film festival to be held in the Arab world. Egypt has also contributed to the action genre with actors such as Youssef Mansour who became famous in the 1990s for his martial arts films.