Essam Abdel Hady, chairman of the state-run Egyptian Company for Sound and Light Shows and Cinema (SLC), said Monday that the government planned to buy some 3000 feature films from the ART and Rotana satellite television channels for a total of LE1 billion. Abdel Hady went on to explain that the ministries of culture and investment had been tasked with carrying out negotiations with the two television channels on behalf of the government. He added that ART had already signed an LE61-million contract with SLC for the rental of its films over the next five years. After ART failed to carry out its side of the agreement, however, similar deals were struck with the Melody, Orbit and Rotana television channels instead. SLC currently owns 210 feature films and has distribution rights for another 155 privately-produced films. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
