The Egyptian cinema has a profound influence on the Arabs. The golden age of Egyptian cinema was in the 1940s and 1950s. During that period Omar Sherif emerged as a major international star and his former wife, Fatin Hamama, reigned as the queen of Arab cinema.

Directors such as Youssef Chahine have gained wide international respect and many of Egypt's leading literary lights, including Tawfiq Al Hakim and Naguib Mahfouz, have written for the cinema.

Today, the reigning superstar of the Egyptian cinema is the comedian Adel Imam, whose political satire has earned him the respect of serious filmgoers and occasionally the resentment of the government. Other film stars include Ahmad Zaki, Mahmoud Abdul Aziz and Yusra.

The modern atmosphere of profiteering and heavy entertainment taxes have resulted in drastically lowering the standards of modern Egyptian cinema.