History: Egypt

The Cairo Opera House serves as the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital. Egypt's media and arts industry has flourished since the late 19th century, today with more than thirty satellite channels and over one hundred motion pictures produced each year. Cairo has long been known as the "Hollywood of the Middle East;" its annual film festival, the Cairo International Film Festival, has been rated as one of 11 festivals with a top class rating worldwide by the International Federation of Film Producers' Associations. To bolster its media industry further, especially with the keen competition from the Persian Gulf Arab States and Lebanon, a large media city was built. Some Egyptian-born actors include Omar Sharif.
• Media
Egyptian media are highly influential throughout the Arab World, attributed to large audiences and increasing freedom from government control. Freedom of the media is guaranteed in the constitution; however, many laws still restrict this right. After the Egyptian presidential election of 2005, Ahmed Selim, office director, Information Minister Anas al-Fiqi, declared an era of a "free, transparent and independent Egyptian media."
Today, the Egyptian media is experiencing greater freedom. Several Egyptian Talk shows, like 90 Minutes and Al- Ashera Masa'an, which air on private channels, and even state television programs such as El-beit beitak criticize the Government, which was previously banned.