Muslim Cinema is the third presentation in the series about Muslims and Film. It covers the history and state of Cinema in Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and Sub-Saharan Africa as well as those films made by or about Muslims in other countries.

1. Muslim Cinema
Javed Mohammed
Writer-Producer
Writer-
k2film@live.com
Muslims and Media Part 3
Changing the world one story at a time Copyright 2009

2. Agenda
Overview
Turkish Cinema
Egyptian & Arab Cinema
Cinemas of Sub-Saharan Africa
Iranian Cinema
Pakistani Cinema
French-Algerian Cinema

3. What is Muslim vs Islamic Cinema?
There is no definition so here is one.
“Muslim Cinema is a film
movement by or about
Muslims.”
Javed Mohammed
“Islamic Cinema is film
that conforms to
Islamic laws, customs
and values.”
Javed Mohammed

4. Muslim Cinema: Hard to
describe
As the 1 Billion+
Muslims are spread
across 48 Muslim
majority countries plus
With hundreds of
dialects and
languages
From Morocco to
Indonesia
Other than faith there
is no common theme,
or narrative that can
describe Muslim
Cinema

5. Muslim Cinema
Definitely some
countries have a
stronger culture,
affinity or presence wrt
films
For others film
presents a moral
issue. Film has images
and sounds that are
many times graphic,
show nudity, sex,
violence, vulgar
language, sensual
music all which
oppose the beliefs and
values of the Islamic
faith.

6. Turkish Cinema

7. Turkish Cinema
Turkish film
industry is known
as Yeşilçam
(quot;Green Pinequot;) in
the same way that
Hollywood refers
to American film.

8. Starting Off
Turkey got the same start as the West to cinema in the
20th century.
With the defeat of the Ottoman caliphate, Ataturk moved
a country from Islam to Secular rule.
1896–1945 Film production sporadic. Averaged one film
per year.
However Film production wasn't continuous until around
the 1950s
A couple of companies then dominated the scene and
addressed population-dense and profitable cities such as
Istanbul and Izmir
Strong import presence from the USA, France, Italy and
Germany
After WW2 major shift, 49 films made in 1952
In 1960s, Turkey became the 5th biggest film producer
reached the 300 films mark at start of 70s.

9. A Paradigm shift
TV and Video caused
next major shift and
popularity of those
mediums in 70s and
economic crisis caused
film production to free
fall.
Ticket sales, dropped in
80s and 90s from 90M in
1966 to 11M in 1990
Number of theaters fell
2000 theatres in 1966 to
290 in 1990
In 1990s the average
number of films produced
fell to 10-15 films some
not making it to the
theatres.

10. Last decade of Revival
Since 1995 situation has
improved.
After year 2000, ticket
sales reached the 20
millions
Number of theatres
increased to over 500
nation-wide.
Turkish films attract
millions of spectators and
top the blockbuster-lists,
often surpassing foreign
films in terms of ticket
sales.
Today there is no film
industry per se, but
individual projects whose
distribution is handled by
foreign companies

11. Time line of Turkish Cinema
1914 First film made by a Turk in Turkey.
1922 Kemal Film (Seded Brothers) is the first feature film
production company in Turkey.
1928-1941 Ipek Films (Ipekci Brothers) monopolizes
Turkish film production.
1964 The first Antalya Film Festival awards its first
quot;Golden Orangequot; for best film to Gurbet Kuslari (Birds of
Nostalgia) directed by Halit Refig. Susuz yaz (Dry
Summer) wins Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival.
1982 Yol shares the Palme d'Or at Cannes (with Missing
by Costa Gravas).
2003 Uzak (Distant) wins Grand Prize and Best Actor at
Cannes.
2007 (April) 25th International Istanbul Film Festival

12. Turkish film maker: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Ceylan's films
have often been
described as
high art
Minimalist
movies with an
extremely low
budget
Won 18 awards
for Uzak
(Distant)

13. Egyptian Cinema

14. Overview
1930 and 1936, various
small studios produced at
least 44 feature films. In
1936, Studio Misr,
emerged as the leading
studio for 3 decades
1940s & 50s Golden age
of Arab cinema based
out of Cairo
Popular films with heroes
and happy endings
Major transition from
silent era of 1920s to
sound.
3/4s of Arab films since
1908 are Egyptian
Cairo is famous for
International Film
Festival

15. A little history
1966, the Egyptian film industry nationalized: Stifled creativity
1970s, Egyptian films struck a balance between politics,
entertainment, and audience appeal.
1970s and 1980s Egyptian film industry in decline. Formula
movies
Decline from 100 films per year at peak to ~12/year in 1995
1997 small comedy revival with quot;Ismailia Rayeh Gayy“
Rest of 1990s Status quo remains with little support from
government and low budget, low production value films. A few
small hits, but Western and other Bollywood films have greater
impact.

16. Egyptian Cinema Today
In 1997,16 films
Revival in Egyptian Cinema
There are Film schools and now
over 40 directors
In 2007 risen to 40 films and box
office reaches $50M
American movies comparatively
earned $10M

17. Egyptian film maker : Youssef Chahine
Prolific Egyptian film
director
Born 1926 and active in
the Egyptian film industry
since 1950.
Launched career of actor
Omar Sharif
Won many awards
including Lifetime award
at Cannes
Made many films
including the epic Al
Nasser Salah Ad-Din (The
Victorious Saladin) - 1963

18. Arab Cinema
Besides Egypt,
smaller cinema
in Syria,
Morocco, and
Algeria

19. Syrian-American Film
maker:Moustapha Akkad
Attended UCLA and USC
film schools
Made Epic films
Mohammad, Messenger of
God and Lion of the
Desert,
Plus for Western
audiences commercially
successful Halloween
series

20. Cinemas of Sub-Saharan
Africa

21. Cinemas of Sub-Saharan
Africa
Cinema in Africa
been there for over
85 years
Strong colonial
influence, Colonial
Film Units (CFU)
Early 1960s
indigenous cinema
starts to appear

22. Some History
Effort started with
minimal financial and
technical resources
and amateur actors
Following Sembene’s
lead other Senegales
directors followed.
Spread to Niger,
Cameroon, Mali,
Algeria, Morocco, and
Tunisia.
Government of France
has provided aid to
help film production
(however price is
control and
censorship)

23. Senegalese film maker:
Sembene Ousmane
quot;Father of African film”
Director, producer and
writer.
Themes: history of
colonialism, the
failings of religion, the
critique of the new
African bourgeoisie,
and the strength of
African women.
2004 feature
Moolaadé, won
awards at the Cannes
Film Festival explored
subject of female
genital mutilation.

24. Cinema of Iran

25. Cinema of Iran
Persians have long history of
literature and mythology
Early Persian/Iranian cinema
made its debut at start of the
20th century.
Got off to a slow start first film
school in 1925 and by 1930s
just 15 theaters in Tehran

26. Cinema of Iran
1930s and 40s slow progress
with influence from English films
Shah of Iran did not particularly
support film industry
But by 1960s 25 films/year and
by 1970 65/year. Mainly
melodrama and thrillers
In 1965 a new genre of popular
film: the tragic action drama

27. Post-revolutionary Iranian
cinema
Style: Long (slow)
takes, Frugal ordinary
lives, No graphic
content
Minimalist and Neo-
Relalist, Art Cinema
Little melodrama.
Some Popular cinema
too for broader
audiences.
Heavy censorship

28. Post-revolutionary Iranian
cinema
Follow strong Muslim
edicts about not
showing
Women who
expose their
bodies (except
hands and face)
Dressed in
revealing clothes
Any physical
contact (including
kissing) between
men and women
Vulgar or Sensual
or Sexual dialogue
Negative portrayal
of state, police,
army etc.
Foreign music

29. Post-revolutionary Iranian
cinema
Pre-Production
permit validates
script
Post-Production
checks film and
gives different
ratings allowing full
PR, peak viewing
or no PR, limited
viewing, to
banned.

30. The big picture
In spite of
censorship Iran
has contributed to
world cinema with
strong directors
Abbas Kiarostami
won the Palme
d'Or at the Cannes
Film Festival for
“Taste of Cherry”
in 1997.
Persian films have
been nominated
for Oscars and
won awards at
Berlin and Venice
film festivals

31. The big picture
Approx 130 films
screened per year
Common themes
are revolution (and
its after effects), the
Iran-Iraq war, social
problems
Western films are
shown but only
ones that are
classics and ones
that have been
censored/edited.
The Government
also funds ethnic
cinema, eg
Kurdistan, Afghan
and other areas
where Iran has
influence .

32. Iran New Wave
1960s, art films with
highly political and
philosophical tones
and poetic language.
New Wave are Abbas
Kiarostami, Jafar
Panahi, Majid Majidi,
Mohsen Makhmalbaf,
Tahmineh Milani,
Samira Makhmalbaf,
and many more.
Strong intellectual and
political movements
Strong influence of
Italian Neorealism Baran by Majid Majidi

33. Festivals
The Fajr Film Festival
has taken place since
1983 and is a major
festival .
successful in making
policies and setting
examples for the future
of Iranian cinema.
In 2005, the festival
added competitions for
Asian as well as
spiritual films.
The top prize is called
Crystal Simorgh

34. Iranian Film maker: Majid
Majidi
Writer, Producer and
Director
As of 2004 Majidi only
Iranian director
nominated for an
Academy Award for
Best Foreign
Language Film with
the film Children of
Heaven in 1998.
Other award winning
films include Baran,
The Color of Paradise

35. Cinema of Pakistan

36. Cinema of Pakistan
Pakistan gained
independence in
1947.
In the divide a lot
of the talent,
skilled workers
(and equipment)
left for Bombay
from (1947-58)
Still had 5 Studios
in Lahore, Karachi
and Dhaka (in East
Pakistan)

37. Cinema of Pakistan
Made films in Urdu
the national
language but also in
dialects of Punjabi
(largest), Bengali,
Pashto (smaller),
Balochi and Sindhi.
Local films and films
from India were
shown in Pakistan till
1952
Most films non-
political
Pakistan’s film
industry always
been over shadowed
by neighbor India
and Bollywood.

38. Golden age (1959–1969)
The '60s decade is often
cited as being the golden
age of cinema in Pakistan.
In 1962, film aka Martyr,
pronounced the Palestine
issue on the silver screen
and became an instant hit.
Some talent left for overseas
In 1965, war between India
and Pakistan, all Indian films
completely banned
Waheed Murad stepped in
as top talent becoming one
of the top talents in the
Pakistani film industry

39. The Decline starts (Seventies)
In 1971 war with India, East Pakistan lost
and becomes independent Bangladesh.
Dhaka (Bengal film center and industry
lost)
Competition from Bollywood, led to further
decline
Mid-Seventies brings VCR and film piracy
1977, PM Bhutto arrested and General Zia-
ul-Haq becomes president on strong wave
of Islamic support
Islamic laws introduced, cinemas closed
and entertainment taxes imposed.

40. Downfall (Eighties) and
Collapse (Nineties)
Output dropped from 98
films in 1979 (42 Urdu), to
58 films (26 Urdu) in 1980.
A few one-hit wonders eg In
1979 Punjabi cult classic
Maula Jatt.
Growing censorship policies.
Punjabi films overshadow
Urdu cinema.
By the early '90s, the annual
output dropped to around 40
films, all produced by a
single studio
Production falls to 32 films in
2003
Film studios decline
preferring short-plays, and
TV dramas for cable TV

41. Revival (2003–present)
In 2003 Young film makers
demonstrated that with
limited resources they can
produce quality films
In 2005 pressure to lift ban
on Bollywood films in
Pakistan.
Mughal-e-Azam re-released
in India and shown in
Pakistan
Geo TV backs effort
“Revival of Pakistani
Cinema”
In 2007 large budget film
Khuda Ke Liye a
controversial film that
addresses fundamentalism,
war on terror, forced
marriage and other issues
becomes block buster film in
Pakistan and is shown in
India (after a four decade
ban.)

42. Shoaib Mansoor
Written, produced
and directed hit TV
shows
Directed “Khuda
Ke Liye”
Only film to be
released in
Pakistan and India
Joint Venture
between Pakistan,
India, and US.

43. Muslim-Minority Films
Muslims are
sizable minorities
in many countries
In India over 13%
Muslim
In France 9%
They are in making
contributions to
cinema

44. Muslim-Minority Films
In Bollywood
(India) Mughal-e-
Azam an Epic set
in the Moghul
empire was
directed, by K. Asif
and starred Dilip
Kumar and
Madhubala (both
Muslims)
The film was
funded by an
Indian company

45. Muslim-Minority Films
Indigènes: How
French army treated
North African soldiers
by Rachid Bouchareb
French director of
Algerian parentage
Plot: During WWII, four
North African men
enlist in the French
army to liberate that
country from Nazi
oppression, and to
fight French
discrimination.

46. An all-American film
Syriana by
Stephen Gaghan
American director
Plot: A politically-
charged epic about
what Western
industry, and
Intelligence will do
in the mid-east to
protect their
interests.

47. Conclusion
Cinema in the
Muslim world is
diverse.
The major
cinemas include
Turkish,
Egyptian & Arab
Cinema, Sub-
Saharan Africa,
Iranian,
Pakistani and
“Other” Cinema.

48. Conclusion
Each Cinema
has gone
through its birth,
rise and golden-
age, decline,
and now revival.
Search, Watch
and share good
Muslim Cinema
MyFavoriteReview.com
To see other presentations on Islam, Muslims and Film see
“From Hollywood to Bollywood”
“Muslims and Media”
On SlideShare by Javed Mohammed
Send any comments to k2film@live.com

49. References
WikiPedia
The Web
The Oxford History of World
Cinema
Asian Cinema: A Field Guide by
Tom Vick
Contemporary World Cinema by
Shohini Chaudhuri