Shows With Arab, Muslim Characters Go Global: ‘This Is a Culture That Loves Telling Stories’
variety.comNick Holdsworth Original TV series based on Arab and Muslim characters are beginning to go global, a Netflix executive said Saturday at the Red Sea Film Festival.
Ahmed Sharkawi, director of Arab content, Netflix Europe, Middle East and Africa, said that a new, distinctive voice was emerging from the region. “Recently, a friend called me and her mother-in-law – who is 100% American – was recommending one of our Arab series [“Finding Ola,” starring Hind Sabri] to all her friends,” he said at a panel about writing for television. “This wave [of Arab and Muslim stories] is beginning; the U.S.
audience is becoming open to watching stories that are outside of the U.S. experience.” The region was rich in a tradition of storytelling that meant there were many original scripts being written, he said. “There are so many stories in this region that have not been told before, so [our job is] about harvesting that intellectual property.” “This is a culture that loves telling stories; we all grew up on the folklore – of our grandmothers telling us stories, some true, others not.
The challenge is for the writer to find the right point of view to tell those stories.” Two Arab Netflix series have become big regional hits, he added. “Crashing of Eid” is a Saudi Arabian series about a U.K.-based Saudi woman’s teenage daughter who thinks that marrying her British-Pakistani boyfriend will be approved by her parents without question.
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