Cleopatra’s African Heritage in Netflix Docudrama Sparks Uproar in Egypt

Naman Ramachandran India is the fastest growing market market in the world for giant streamer Netflix and Monika Shergill, VP, content, for the country, has a clear plan to keep the trajectory going. “A healthy streaming business, according to us, has to be built on the strong fundamentals of engagement, where we are doing very well, and revenue and profit as a global service. We are a profitable service – in many of our markets, we are on the path to profitability,” Shergill told Variety. Earlier this year, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos had said that content watching grew by 30% last year in India and revenue grew by 25%. In a subsequent earnings call, Sarandos addressed the importance of pricing in India, saying: “We’ve got to get pricing and the main payment methods right.”

“The Daily Show” guest host Dulcé Sloan isn’t buying it.To kick off her week guest-hosting the show, Sloan mocked Egyptian officials for their outrage, after they claimed the ancient queen was actually “fair-skinned” and Greek.“Oh, OK. Egypt is concerned about ‘historical accuracy.’ I didn’t hear you complain when all them ‘Mummy’ movies came out,” Sloan mocked. “What are you talking about? We got mummies coming back from the dead, chasing Brendan Fraser, and y’all don’t have a problem,” she continued.

The controversy over Netflix‘s Queen Cleopatra limited series is getting more dramatic.

Netflix‘s Queen Cleopatra.In the documentary, which is narrated by Jada Pinkett Smith, Cleopatra is portrayed by biracial actress Adele James (Casualty).Her casting has sparked a debate in Egypt, with various figures accusing the docudrama of “blackwashing” the country’s history. One lawyer even filed a lawsuit against Netflix, claiming the project had contradicted and distorted Egyptian history in favour of promoting Afrocentrism.On Thursday (April 27), the antiquities ministry in Egypt weighed in on the debate, saying that Cleopatra had “white skin and Hellenistic characteristics”.“Bas-reliefs and statues of Queen Cleopatra are the best proof,” the ministry’s statement read (via The Independent).Queen Cleopatra, the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty, was born in 69 BC and died in 30 BC in Alexandria.

Egypt’s Supreme Council Of Antiquities (SCA) has added its voice to the row over the portrayal of Cleopatra as a Black woman in Netflix’s upcoming docudrama Queen Cleopatra.

EXCLUSIVE: Julia Hart is set to direct an adaptation of the Samantha Downing novel The Lovely Wife at Netflix. Hart will also co-write the script with Jordan Horowitz, who is producing along with Automatic, Vertigo and OHQ.

Carmel Dagan Singer, actor, producer and activist Harry Belafonte, who spawned a calypso craze in the U.S. with his music and blazed new trails for African-American performers, has died at his Manhattan home, according to the New York Times. He was 96.An award-winning Broadway performer and a versatile recording and concert star of the ’50s, the lithe, handsome Belafonte became one of the first black leading men in Hollywood. He later branched into production work on theatrical films and telepics. As his career stretched into the new millennium, his commitment to social causes never took a back seat to his professional work.An intimate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he was an important voice in the ’60s civil rights movement, and he later embarked on charitable activities on behalf of underdeveloped African nations. He was an outspoken opponent of South Africa’s apartheid policies.

, Nicole finally came to the decision that she no longer wants to live in Egypt after struggling this entire season to adhere to the more conservative culture and she told the news to her husband.Nicole already tried living in Egypt once when she married Mahmoud but left when they decided to separate. They later got back together and this season documents her second time trying to live with him in his home country.

Tina Gharavi is speaking out about portraying Cleopatra as black in the upcoming Netflix mini-series, Queen Cleopatra.

Any parent will know that going away during the school holidays can drastically increase the cost of any holiday.

Netflix‘s upcoming docudrama Queen Cleopatra has addressed the backlash over casting a Black actress in the lead role.Casualty star Adele James was announced as the lead of the series in April, but criticism soon followed in Egypt, with many accusing the docudrama of “blackwashing” the country’s history. One lawyer even filed lawsuit against Netflix, claiming the series had contradicted and distorted Egyptian history in favour of promoting Afrocentrism.However, in a new piece for Variety, director Tina Gharayi hit back at critics, arguing “it’s more likely that Cleopatra looked like Adele than Elizabeth Taylor,” who famously portrayed the historical figure in 1963’s Cleopatra.“For me, the idea that people had gotten it so incredibly wrong before — historically, from Theda Bara to Monica Bellucci, and recently, with Angelina Jolie and Gal Gadot in the running to play her — meant we had to get it even more right,” wrote Gharayi.“Why shouldn’t Cleopatra be a melanated sister? And why do some people need Cleopatra to be white? Her proximity to whiteness seems to give her value, and for some Egyptians it seems to really matter.”She continued: “After much hang-wringing and countless auditions, we found in Adele James an actor who could convey not only Cleopatra’s beauty but also her strength.

The director of “Queen Cleopatra” is addressing critics.

Tina Gharavi Guest Contributor Last summer, I was living in Venice Beach and had decided, due to a friend’s persistence, to visit a fortune teller. Me, ever the sceptic but game for a laugh, agreed to go along. What the fortune teller said made me roll my eyes: “I am not saying you are Cleopatra but somehow you share her story and are connected.” Less than a month later, I got a call from a production company making Jada Pinkett Smith’s “African Queens” and was subsequently hired to direct four episodes of a drama-documentary on the life of the controversial leader. The joke was on me. I remember as a kid seeing Elizabeth Taylor play Cleopatra. I was captivated, but even then, I felt the image was not right. Was her skin really that white? With this new production, could I find the answers about Cleopatra’s heritage and release her from the stranglehold that Hollywood had placed on her image?

previously explained that she wanted to be involved in the project because she “really wanted to represent Black women.”But Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, who previously served as the nation’s antiquities minister, is not happy with the “completely fake” portrayal of the famous queen, who he claims was wholly Greek — and “not black.” He’s accused Netflix of “trying to provoke confusion by spreading false and deceptive facts that the origin of the Egyptian civilization is black.”“Cleopatra was Greek, meaning that she was light-skinned, not black,” the archaeologist told the Al-Masry al-Youm newspaper, per a BBC report on Wednesday.In addition, lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary filed a complaint Sunday with the country’s public prosecutor to demand that Netflix be blocked in Egypt, claiming they are trying to “promote the Afrocentric thinking … which includes slogans and writings aimed at distorting and erasing the Egyptian identity.”A petition titled “Cancel Netflix’s ‘Queen Cleopatra'” has more than 3,200 signatures on Change.org. Another petition for the cause that allegedly garnered 85,000 signatures was meanwhile removed from Change.org.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor One year after Los Angeles’ beloved Landmark closed, the city’s exhibition scene is looking a little brighter – or at least, it will be when a few long-awaited venues open or reopen in 2023, including the Vista, the Egyptian and the new Vidiots outpost at the Eagle Theatre. Between grappling with the stratospherically priced L.A. commercial real estate and persuading adults to return to movie theaters, the local exhibition scene has weathered numerous challenges since COVID forced businesses to shutter operations. “It’s better than last year for sure, because COVID is officially over May 11,” says Sony Pictures Classics co-president Tom Bernard, referencing the end of the federal public health emergency declaration. “So that is a great piece of information for people — they will probably go out more when they feel the official end to the pandemic.”

Netflix for depicting Cleopatra as a Black woman in a new documentary.al-Semary filed a case with the Public Prosecutor to shut down the streaming service in Egypt, following the release of the trailer for Queen Cleopatra – you can watch it below.As reported by Egypt Independent, the lawyer has demanded that serious legal action be taken against those responsible for the making of the documentary.The case claims that the documentary contradicts and distorts Egyptian history in favour of promoting Afrocentrism.al-Semary described the new depiction of the historic figure as a “crime”, and blamed Netflix’s management team for its participation in the project. He also demanded a thorough investigation of the process, as well as an outright shutdown of Netflix in Egypt.The case submitted against Netflix stated: “Most of what Netflix platform displays do not conform to Islamic and societal values and principles, especially Egyptian ones.”It added: “In order to preserve the Egyptian national and cultural identity among Egyptians all over the world there must be pride in the makings of such work.”The complaint has also accused the makers of the documentary and platform management of “forgery”.Former Egyptian Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass said that documentary was “falsifying facts”, adding that “This is completely fake.

Netflix Orders Season 2 Of ‘Rana Naidu’

Naman Ramachandran “Rana Naidu,” the Indian adaptation of “Ray Donovan,” has been renewed for a second season by Netflix. The news emerged the same day that Netflix announced a 1.75 million jump in subscriptions worldwide. The action thriller that stars Venkatesh Daggubati and Rana Daggubati trended on the No.1 spot as the most watched series in India for three consecutive weeks after launch last month and continues to be in the top 10 series in India for the fifth week in a row. It trended in Netflix’s global top 10 for non-English TV for two weeks after it launched on March 10.

Morgan Freeman has thoughts.

Norgan Freeman is opening up about identity and race.