Misr International Films has set 12 March 2014 as the launch date of its Zawya Initiative, supported by New Century (Dollar Film) through the company's allocation of a theatre in Odeon Cinema. The Zawya Initiative aims to promote film culture in Egypt by using existing cinemas to screen alternative Arab and foreign films on a weekly basis. Odeon Cinema, in downtown Cairo, has been selected as Zawya's screening base.

Organized by producer and director Marianne Khoury, managing partner of Misr International Films, Zawya will showcase independent local films in order to support young Egyptian and Arab filmmakers in marketing their works and making them accessible to cinema audiences. Zawya will organize parallel activities to complement its screening program, including workshops and panel discussions on the screened films.

The Zawya Initiative also includes an education and cinema program that aims to merge education with entertainment in order to help youth develop their critical and analytical skills. The education and cinema program will be implemented in cooperation with Egyptian schools and universities.

The Zawya Initiative was developed following the remarkable success of the Panorama of the European Film, which has become one of Egypt's most successful film events since its launch in 2004; it has screened numerous non-Arabic-speaking films to large audiences.

New Century (Dollar Film) recently revealed its 2014 production plan and announced its acquisition of new theatres in Alexandria and Al-Mansoura in addition to its existing theatres in Cairo, Benha, Damietta, and other Egyptian governorates. These theatres will be fitted with state-of-the-art equipment.

New Century's 2014 plan includes several large film productions, including Daoud Abdel Sayed's Supernatural Powers, marking the famed director's comeback after four years of absence, Décor by director Ahmad Abdalla, a film by director Yousry Nasrallah currently at the script development stage, and Antar & Beesa, which is directed by Mohamed El-Tahawy and written by Sayed El-Sobky.

New Century recently acquired the rights to 9 new theatres with a total of 18 screens. The new theatres are being professionally equipped to meet the highest standards expected by today's cinema-goers. In Cairo's Shubra district they include New Modern Cinema and Al-Amir Cinema, each with two screens, and in downtown Cairo include the popular three-screen Odeon Cinema.

In the provinces, New Century has acquired Donia Ismailia Cinema (one screen) in Ismailia, Donia Damietta Cinema (two screens) in Damietta, Donia Benha Cinema (three screens) in Qalyubia, and Donia Porto Sokhna Cinema (two screens) in Suez.