Cima Masr: Reviving Egyptian Identity Through Cinema
Cima Masr is a step closer on the road to raising awareness of Egypt’s cinematic heritage. Hany Ghoneim, President of the Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies and Research, announced the project “Cima Masr” in an interview with Scoop Empire, stating that “the project aims to establish a large number of movie theaters across Egypt’s various governorates”.
The idea behind Cima Masr spurned the reality we live in. There’s an obvious shortage of cinemas across the country. Cinemas are largely concentrated in Cairo, with 85 percent of Egypt’s total. Alexandria is home to 5 percent, with the remaining 10 percent across the rest of the country, Ghoneim revealed.
The project aims to revive the Egyptian identity by exploiting the soft power of cinemas. Mr. Ghoneim pointed out “that the project aims to bring the public back to film theaters, giving Egyptians from all classes access to cinemas with tickets that cost 10 EGP only!”.
Another aim is to foster an environment where local artists are able to showcase their films with the help of experts. They’ll be screened in 25 governorates, 50 cities, and in 55 different cinemas across Egypt.
Cinemas form and reform all societies, you can analyze a society by the level of creativity and sophistication in their film industry. Ghoniem also stressed the impact of spreading the culture of attending cinemas across Egypt’s governorates, through establishing a series of productions that wil be the first step in a long journey toward creating “a new generation within the filmmaking industry”.
