Middle Eastern and North African cinema
In 1948, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq saw growth in their film industries. In Iran, Esmail Kushan founded the Mitra film company which could domestically produce sound movies. This was important because until then sound movies would have to be filmed in Europe. In iraq, Alia and Issam the first Iraqi movie is produced. In Turkey, the government decreased the tax on cinema tickets which increased the demand for films and the production of films. On the same year, the State of Israel was established and war broke out in the Levant region. Post Israel's establishment, in 1949, the Israeli Motion Picture Studios open.