BERLIN -- The Egyptians are striking back.
Producers from the Arab world's oldest and largest film industry are joining forces for the first time to take Egyptian cinema international.
The four biggest Egyptian production companies -- United Artistic Group, Good News Group, ART and Al-Arabiya -- have come together under the banner of the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and industry's Expolink with a view to selling their projects at Berlin, Cannes and the AFM.
The group will also be searching out co-production opportunities with foreign producers.
The companies are being funded by the Egyptian government this year to the tune of millions of dollars in marketing, PR and travel costs.
While Egypt has a 100-year-old history of filmmaking and the most prolific movie industry in the Arab world, it has fallen behind the likes of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the media spotlight.
"We want to open new markets for Egyptian cinema," says Expolink's Bassma Kandil. "We need to have international distribution, produce more and also have more co-productions."
All four companies will be holding screenings of their current slate, including Al-Arabiya's "Meccano" and ART's "Ayman and Yasmin."
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