Abdel Rahman Habib wrote on Sunday, July 02, 2023 02:00 PM, while Egypt honed its distinctive style of Film industry In the early 20th century, it saw the development of a parallel craft that took on a life of its own: movie posters. Largely made using lithography and designed by illustrators who worked independently of production studios, the poster culture of Egyptian cinema created a system of creativity that rivaled the films themselves.
Posters in various forms of melodrama and minimalism reflecting eras of liberation and conservatism alike were displayed on billboards in bustling capitals such as Cairo and Alexandria during their heyday, as well as on a smaller scale outside local theatres.
Posters showcased famous movie stars and brought new faces to fame, and allowed Egyptian artists and illustrators to solidify their visual languages.
Posters from the golden age of industry were a magnet for the country’s mood and culture, and through more than 200 examples combined with the analysis of film historians and academic specialists Moving Pictures Painted or Movies in Paintings 200 Posters from the Golden Age of Egyptian cinema recreates one of cinema’s most unique and fascinating periods. in Egypt.
The book, published by CentreCentre in Britain, includes 200 Egyptian film posters produced between 1938 and 1996 and 3 articles by film critic and programmer Joseph Fahim, artist, designer and researcher Haitham Nawar, and art historian and researcher Christiane Gruber.
“The whole project started with a conversation between myself and poster collector Thomas Hill, who owns an archive of around 100,000 posters,” says Patrick Fry, founder of CentreCentre and publisher of the book. The more time Patrick spent with Thomas’s collection, the more he admired the skill and style of poster artists in Egypt, while “They’re very clever posters, I feel they deserve to be seen and celebrated,” says Thomas.
Publisher Patrick Fry specializes in unusual collections of art and design, and when he discovered an archive of 20th-century Egyptian cinema posters, he knew he had found his next book project. The Middle East was called the Hollywood of the East and covered all forms of cinema.
Joseph Fahim adds that the posters in the book are not just an art archive, they also reflect the changing sensitivities and socio-economic situation of the country.
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