The first known cinema in Jordan was the Petra Cinema in 1935. However, it is said that there was a cinema called 'Abu Siyah' in the 1920s and one of the first films it screened were Charlie Chaplin's silent films. As opposed to Egypt and Lebanon, Jordan joined the film industry much later, with their first films being released in the 1950s. The reason was most likely due to the fact that Jordan gained independence from the British mandate in 1946.