When it comes to film making, Hollywood knows exactly how to seduce the world; they have dominated the international film market since the early 20th century. Our own Egyptian cinema industry has also managed to dominate the Middle East for decades, and when it comes to competing against Hollywood, we know how to hold our ground.

Below are 5 ideas which originated from Egypt and later got adopted by Hollywood:

 

  1. The Secret Of The Vanishing Cap / Ser Ta2eyet El E5fa

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From “Harry Potter” to “X men” and many more, the idea of someone turning invisible is a common and a popular plot device that fascinates all of us in Hollywood movies, but were they the first ones to come up with the idea?

No sir, the first time a character (Not an object like a car/machine/spaceship) turned invisible in a movie was our own ‘3asfour’, thanks to his vanishing cap in the movie “Ser Ta2yit El E5fa” directed by Neyazy Mostafa back in 1959. Three year later, Hollywood emulated our success and produced “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t” directed by Robert Butler in 1972.

 

  1. Esma3il Yassin Fi Mat7af El Sham3

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What’s the first movie that comes to mind when you think of a wax museum where statues come to life? Certainly, the “Night At Museum” sequel, though Hollywood would argue with you on this one because in 1988 they produced “Waxwork”, also about effigies coming to life.

Sorry Hollywood, but we did it long before you! In 1955, Ismail Yassin was the first to spend time with wax statues in the horror comedy film “Mat7af El Shame3”.

Sorry Ben Stiller!

 

  1. Stars Playing Themselves In Films

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There’s a long line of films where Hollywood’s finest have played themselves onscreen – sometimes in all seriousness, more often to ridiculous effect. Since I brought this up, it must mean we also beat Hollywood to it folks.

The first actor and singer who played their own characters in real life in a movie were Youssef Wahby & Mohamed Abd El Wahab in “3’azel El Banat” 1949, but they were only guests of honor.

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In “Esha3et Hob” 1960, the one & only Hend Roston dazzled us by her performance while playing her own character. It wasn’t until 1964 that Hollywood took notice of this plot and applied it in the movie “A Hard Day’s Night”.

 

  1. A War Movie

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It never occurred anywhere in the world of cinema, that a motion picture (In a literary genre, not a documentary one) featuring a real war, could be released only seven months after the real war ended, before the Egyptian film “Portsaid” 1957.

The film is notable for its realistic portrayal of the Tripartite Aggression war on Egypt 1956. It might be possible this very day to produce a real war movie on the spot, but fifty years ago it was a tough nut to crack, so way to go Egypt.

 

  1. Girl Wonder “2at2outa”

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 The first time we saw a child onscreen playing a main character was in Charlie Chaplin’s silent comedy-drama “The Kid” 1921. We all know how difficult it is to control a child, how about making him/her act?

It must be difficult, but I bet making a kid act (talk), sing and dance is way more complicated.

Fayrouz (Perouz Artin Kalfayan) rose to fame as young as 7, with her debut in “Yasmine” 1950. She starred in more than 10 films as an actress, singer, dancer and entertainer. Her biggest role was in “Dahab” 1953. She was sponsored by the actor, director and producer Anwar Wagdi who gave her most of her roles.

That’s how you handle a child Hollywood; watch and learn.