excepting entry titles, their translations are only to be found in the Acronyms and Abbreviations section.
Chronology
1896 Egypt: The first Lumière screenings take place in the Bourse Tousson Pasha and the Zawani cafe (Alexandria) and in the Hamam Schneider (Cairo).
1897 Tunisia: The first North African film screenings of Lumière films are held in Tunis, facilitated by Albert Samama Chikly.
1896 Turkey: The first film exhibitions in Turkey are held in Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire.
1900 Iran: Iranian cinema may be said to begin with the filming of Muzaffared Shah’s trip to Ostend, Belgium, in 1900, as recorded on a newly purchased camera by court photographer Mirza Ebrahim Khan Akkasbashi.
1901 Israel: The Jewish National Fund (JNF) is founded to raise money for the establishment and maintenance of a Jewish state in the Levant; it supports the production of newsreels and documentaries to propagate that agenda.
1905–1911 Iran: The Qajar dynasty crumbles in the face of the Constitutional Revolution.
1908 Tunisia: Albert Samama Chikly opens the first cinema in the Maghreb, in Tunis.
1911 Turkey: The Manaki(a) brothers, both Ottoman citizens, film Sultan Reşat Mehmet V’s visit to Salonica and Bitola.
1914 Turkey: World War I begins in Europe, taking on a Middle Eastern dimension when the Ottoman Empire joins Germany. Fuat Uzkınay films the first purported Turkish film, The Demolition of the Russian Monument in Hagia Stephanos.
1916 The Sykes–Picot Agreement is signed, dividing much of the Middle East between British and French spheres of influence.
1917 February–October: Russian revolution begins. Egypt: The Italo-Egyptian Cinematographic Company is established by photographer Umberto Dores and others; their films are unsuccessful. Palestine: The Balfour Declaration is drafted by the English government. Turkey: The first two Turkish features are shot by Sedat Simavi, Claw and Spy.
1918 World War I ends, marking a shift in power relations between the Middle East and Europe.
1919 The Paris Peace Conference takes place; the Versailles Peace Treaty is signed.
1920 Israel: The Palestine Foundation Fund (PFF) is established in England to raise money for the establishment and maintenance of a Jewish state in the Levant; it supports the production of documentary films and newsreels propagating that agenda. Lebanon/Syria: The French Mandate over Lebanon and Syria is established. Palestine: The British Mandate over Palestine is initiated.
1922 Tunisia: The first preindependence indigenous North African film, Zohra, directed by Albert Samama Chikly, is released. Turkey: Muhsin Ertuğrul begins making films for the newly founded private studio Kemal Film.
1923 Palestine: The British Mandate over Palestine is implemented. Turkey: The Republic of Turkey is established after the Great War of Independence (1919–1922).
1924 Iran/Turkey: The U.S. documentary Grass is shot in Iran and, partially, in Turkey.
1925 Egypt: The Misr Theatre and Cinema Company is established by Misr Bank.
1926 Iran: Reza Shah ascends the Pahlavi throne. Lebanon: Lebanon is annexed from Greater Syria but remains under the French Mandate.
1927 Egypt: Aziza Amir, a stage actress, sets up a company with Turkish writer Wadad Orfi, and in the same year they produce and codirect Layla with Stephane Rosti; Amir is thus the first Egyptian (and Arab) woman to have produced and directed a film.
1928 Turkey: İpek Film, a major production studio and dubbing facility, is founded.
1929 Lebanon: The Adventures of Elias Mabrouk, directed by Italian Jordano Pidutti, becomes the first silent film shot in Lebanon.
1930 Egypt: Zeinab (Mohammad Karim) is the country’s first full-length feature. Iran: Abi and Rabi (Oganian) becomes the first Iranian feature.
1931 Bahrain: The country becomes the first among the Arab states to discover oil. Lebanon: The Adventures of Abu Abed, directed by Jordano Pidutti, becomes the first film made with Lebanese funding.
1932 Iraq: Iraqi independence is granted. Israel: Natan Axelrod and Chaim Halachmi codirect the first Zionist feature, Oded the Wanderer.
1933 Lebanon: The Lumnar Film Company is established with financing from the Lebanese matriarch Herta Gargour. In the Ruins of Baalbek, directed by Julio De Luca and Karam Boustany and produced by Lumnar, is the first film produced entirely in an Arab country and to feature the Lebanese dialect.
1934 Egypt: The White Rose (Mohammad Karim) introduces music star Mohamed Abdel Wahab to the screen. Iran: The first Persian-language feature, The Lor Girl, is made in India by Ardeshir Irani and Abdolhossein Sepanta.
1936 Egypt: Umm Kulthum, the Arab world’s most famous singer, appears in the first of her six films, Wedad (Ahmed Badrakhan).
1936–1939 Palestine: The Arab Revolt takes place in the Levant.
1937 Tunisia: The first Arabic feature, The Fool of Kairouan, directed by Jean-Andre Kreuzy, is released.
1939 Egypt: Determination (Kamal Selim), considered the country’s first realist film, is released. Maghreb: World War II begins as Germany invades Poland; the war will take on a Middle Eastern dimension when Germany invades North Africa. Syria: Vichy France takes control of the country.
1941 Iran: Reza Shah abdicates under pressure from the Allied forces, and his son accedes to power. Syria: Syrian independence is initiated.
1943 Lebanon: Independence from France is granted. The Rose Seller, directed by Ali al-Ariss, becomes the first postindependence Lebanese film but contains dialogue in the Egyptian vernacular (Cairene). Turkey: The first fully dubbed or postsynchronized Turkish film, Troubled Spring (Faruk Kenç), is made.
1944 Morocco: The Centre Cinématographique Marocain (CCM) is established to produce Moroccan films.
1945 World War II ends as Japan surrenders to the Allied forces. Algeria: Rise of the Algerian Workers Movement.
1946 Maghreb: Studios Africa is founded by France to produce documentaries in its African colonies. Syria: Syrian independence is granted.
1947 Israel/Palestine: 29 November: United Nations General
