UMS’s Al Wathaeqya Channel To Release A Film About Cleopatra, In Response to Neflix’s Docuseries
Egypt’s newly-launched free satellite documentary channel AlWathaeqya, an affiliate of UMS, revealed a plan for a big production about Queen Cleopatra VII.
The trailer was released by Netflix on April 12th claiming that Cleopatra is dark-skinned garnered criticism against casting black actress Adele James as Cleopatra
The channel stated that the new documentary would be based on studies of several specialists in history, archaeology, and anthropology to introduce a subjective picture for research on Cleopatra.
Debates went viral worldwide about the ethnicity of Queen Cleopatra VII, the daughter of Ptolemy XII — known as “Cleopatra,” — the last king of the Ptolemaic dynasty, the family that ruled Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great.
The casting has sparked a backlash in Egypt, Greece, and worldwide, as many believe that Jada Pinkett Smith’s production promotes “false Afrocentric ideas”, with many experts- including former Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass- confirming to international media that Cleopatra was Greek.
