Abstract:
This study analyzes the depiction of Christians and the Christian-Muslim relationship in the Egyptian cinema. The researcher aimed to conduct a content analysis of all movies depicting Christian characters, a list that includes 49 movies presenting Christian was compiled, out of which 35 movies were reachable and so analyzed. The researcher aimed at exploring if the Egyptian cinema has captured changes with respect to Christians and their relationship with their Muslim counters throughout the time span covered in this study. Also, the researcher analyzed if Christian characters have been stereotypically presented in the Egyptian cinema or not, and if their depiction has been linked to discussing related issues, such as national unity.
The results of this study revealed that the nineties and new millennium movies started to tackle new issues that were not presented by filmmakers of the sixties and seventies, such as Christian-Muslim tension. However, the depiction of tension in the nineties and new millennium movies stayed limited, and most of the time connected with national unity themes. Also, it was revealed that the nineties and the new millennium movies, in depicting Christian characters, highlight religion/faith as the main element of the Christian character's identity more than their counters in the sixties and seventies. This research also demonstrated the increase of the realistic portrayal of Christians in the new millennium movies, and the start of movies that tackle Christian characters' religious and spiritual issues, that have been mainly introduced by Christian filmmakers.
