In the vast major of cases, the development of art is strongly dependent on the cultural and national peculiarities of the country. It reflects positive or negative changes within the society. By studying literature, painting, music of some nations we can get a better understanding of different of its present, past and future. This paper aims to discuss Egyptian cinematography: the stages of its development and those factors that shaped it. It is necessary to analyze the transformation of artistic tendencies during the twentieth century. Moreover, we need to describe the impact of the film industry on Egyptian society, because the audience is also immensely influenced by art which may prompt either positive or negative changes. On the whole, the study of cinema in Egypt is interesting because it shows how two main cultures (Eastern and Western) interact with each other. It is rather difficult to speak about exact timelines in the history of Egyptian cinematography. Traditionally, scholars believe that this is a relatively new phenomenon in this country because it became popular and accessible to the population only in the forties (Asante, 2002, p 125). Yet, we should take into account that this type of visual art arrived in Egypt in the late twenties but films did not enjoy considerable demand because they were almost unheard-of at that moment. But after World War II Egyptian cinematography began to grow and later reached its peak. The period of 1940-1960 is usually called as “heyday” or golden age (Asante, 2002, p 125). This boom can be explained by several reasons: 1) during that time writers and film directors were relatively independent of the state, in fact, they were given a free hand. Among the most prominent examples of that heyday, we can single out such movies as A Bullet in the Heart directed by Mohammed Karim and Angel of Mercy produced by Yousef Wahbi. It stands to reason, that they were significantly influenced by Western tradition, namely, we should mention that the preference was given to classical happy endings. Another characteristic feature was the predominance of comedies and melodramas because at that time these genres were popular in France and the United States, and Egyptian people also met them with approval. These works described the social, political, and religious life of Egypt. In this respect, we need to point out that in the fifties Egypt was the only Arabic country that had its own cinematography (Dönmez-Colin, 2007). There is another interesting detail: at that stage, Egyptian society became less occlusive and resistant towards Western influences. But the situation took an unexpected turn in the late sixties when the cinema industry came under full control of the state, and it was practically deprived of its formed liberties. Subsequently, artists were forced to comply with strict censorship and every deviation from the established standards was prohibited (Shafic, 2007, p 33). Usually, scholars identify this stage as a period of decline. However, even despite these restrictions, some filmmakers succeeded in evading the rules imposed by the government. We may remember Adrift on the Neil shot by Naguib Mahfous, who attempted to depict social relations and