The Egyptian Cinematographic Institute
Amina Mohamed in A Night to Remember
Invitation to Fiancé No. 13
Application form of the Institute
An advertisement announcing that there remains two vacant places in the Institute and that the education the institute offers is for free
An invitation to attend a special screening of Song of the Heart exclusively for women.
Cinema Rex ticket announcing that the price of the ticket will be donated to the Cinema Institute
Mohamed Bayoumi’s aim was to safeguard the cinema industry in Egypt by equipping Egyptians with the necessary knowledge that would enable them to take cinema into their own hands. That is why he founded the Egyptian Cinematographic Institute in 1932 at 39, Missalla St. in Alexandria. It is worth noting that the Egyptian Cinematographic Institute is the first cinema institute to be founded in Egypt.
The Institute not only received many applications, which amounted to 2000, but also received a number of donations. Cinema Rex, for example, dedicated the income of a morning showing to support the institute and some of the wealthy people of Alexandria, among whom was Prince Omar Toussoun, donated money to it.
In 1932, the institute produced a documentary on transferring the pillars that came from Italy to El Morsi Abou el Abbass Mosque.
The students of the institute made the film Fiancé Number 13 (El Khatîb nimrah talatâshar) under the guidance of Bayoumi who designed the set of the film on a piece of land owned by Prince Omar Toussoun next to the Institute, acted, along with his daughter, wrote the script, shot, directed, and edited the film.
That is why the advertisements promoted it as a 100% Egyptian film as even the equipments used in it had been manufactured by Bayoumi himself. It was premiered at Cinema Radio in Alexandria on 25 December 1933.
After this film, Bayoumi made a deal with Amina Mohamed, the famous dancer at Alferilo’s night club in Alexandria, to shoot and direct a twenty-minute film for her entitled A Night to Remember (Leila fi el omer). He started working on that film in December 1933.
After finishing the film, Amina Mohamed refused to pay him the expenses. This financial loss seems to have led to the eventual shutdown of the Cinema Institute in Alexandria.
