Netflix’s first Arabic film production remains top of charts for 7th consecutive day amid huge controversy
Ahram Online , Ati Metwaly , Thursday 27 Jan 2022
Since its release on 20 January and the ensuing controversy, the Arabic version of the Italian film Perfect Strangers has been the most watched film on Netflix in the Arab region for seven consecutive days.
Ashab Wala Aaz (meaning “Friends or Dearer”) has been the number one most watched film on Netflix in Egypt for seven consecutive days, and the film has generated a similar level of viewer interest in Jordan and Morocco.
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Over the past five days, the film has also reached number one on the streaming platform in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The debut narrative feature by Wissam Smayra revolves around a party of seven friends who gather to celebrate a lunar eclipse in Lebanon. The hosts are Mai (Nadine Labaki) and her husband Waleed (Georges Khabbaz); their guests are Ziad (Adel Karam), newlywed to Jana (Diamand Bou Abboud), the Egyptian couple Mariam (Mona Zaki) and Sherif (Eyad Nassar), and their single friend Rabie (Fouad Yammine).
The high viewership for Ashab Wala Aaz, the first Arabic film production by Netflix, likely has two reasons: it is an Arabic version of the international hit Perfetti sconosciuti (Perfect Strangers), and it has stirred a huge uproar and controversy on social media.
The premise of Perfetti sconosciuti is simple: at one point the friends agree to share the next text or phone call any of them receives on their mobiles with all the others. It begins as a kind of joke but quickly devolves into a nightmare of secrets and scandals, with marital infidelity and other issues exposed, according to an Al-Ahram Weekly review.
"The script actually tackles numerous issues of relevance to contemporary society. The influence of smartphones, which is the topic that starts off their game, is one. Another is sexual freedom, which comes up when Waleed and Mai’s 18-year-old daughter expresses the desire to stay over at her boyfriend’s, triggering Mai’s fury even as Waleed insists that it is the girl’s decision alone. The third issue is when it transpires that Rabie is gay and has lost his job because of it. He is reluctant to sue the institution because he fears that his mother will find out about his sexual orientation."
Immediately upon its release, Ashab Wala Aaz met with intense criticism and dennunciation from many across social media.
One lawyer is actually in the process of suing Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem, whom he holds responsible for allowing a film that “promotes immorality and homosexuality”
"The film includes no nudity or intimacy and nothing offensive to anyone. There is a moment when Mariam [Mona Zaki] takes off her underwear but it happens mostly offscreen and is dramatically justified," according to the Al-Ahram Weekly review.
Much outrage has been directed against actress Mona Zaki for that moment in the film.
However, a statement by the head of the Actors’ Syndicate Ashraf Zaki showed unequivocal support for actor Mona Zaki and freedom of creativity.
The production by Paolo Genovese, which won the 2016 Cairo International Film Festival’s best screenplay award, among many other accolades, had been remade in 18 different languages before arriving in this part of the world, featuring different actors each time.
Shortly prior to its global premiere, the film had its premiere at the Bulgari Hotel in Dubai on 17 January to huge success.
Three films from Arab countries screening
at Sundance Film Festival 2022
Ahram Online , Wednesday 26 Jan 2022
Three Arab films — ‘Sirens’ by Rita Baghdadi, ‘Warsha’ by Dania Bdeir, and ‘Your Dark Hair, Ihsan’ by Tala Hadid — are being screened within the ongoing Sundance Film Festival. For its 2022 edition, the festival is taking place online at Festival.Sundance.org between 20 and 30 January.
Baghdadi’s documentary, Sirens, is participating in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.
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The film presents the lives of Lilas and Shery — the co-founders of Lebanon’s first all-female metal band. It is a look at the young artists’ dreams to become rock stars in a city with a long history of war and social turmoil that, they believe, is in need of the healing power of music.
Baghdadi is an Emmy award-winning Moroccan American documentary filmmaker that specialises in bold, character-driven films. Her debut feature documentary, ‘My Country No More’, was awarded the Best Feature Award at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in 2018.
Her second documentary, ‘City Rising’, received an Emmy for Best Social Issue Film and is still being used as a tool against housing discrimination.
Screening in the Short Film Programme in Sundance, ‘Warsha’ is a short movie directed by Bdeir. The plot focuses on Mohammad, a Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut, who, one day, volunteers to take on one of the tallest and notoriously most dangerous cranes in Lebanon.
Bdeir is a Lebanese Canadian award-winning writer and director born in Montreal. She is currently a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, has a BA in Graphic Design from the American University in Beirut, and an MFA in directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she received a full scholarship in her third year.
Another short to be screened at Sundance is Your Dark Hair, Ihsan. The film follows a man returning to his home in Northern Africa and remembering his childhood and the mother he lost as a child.
The director of the film, Hadid — who was born in London — is an Iraqi Moroccan filmmaker, photographer, and producer. She participated in the 2019 Rabat Biennale with her installation that was titled ‘Floodplain’.
Hadid’s work is also part of the Ruben Bentsov Moving Image Collection at the Walker Museum in the US. Her films have been screened at film festivals around the world, including Berlin and Venice.
The Sundance Festival’s annual programme includes several sections, including the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, Short Film Programme, Special Screenings, among others.
Egyptian producer and screenwriter Mohamed Hefzy is on the jury of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Hefzy is part of a jury that features 16 internationally renowned critics and filmmakers that will view the competing films in their respective segments.
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organised by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States. The festival gathers storytellers, filmmakers, film critics, and audiences from around the world.
It takes place every January in Park City, Utah; however, this year, it is being held completely online at Festival.Sundance.org.
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