- Title: Two Egyptian serial killers inspire a new Syrian TV drama
- Date: 24th January 2017
- Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (JANUARY 16, 2017) (REUTERS) SQUARE WHERE TV SERIES IS BEING SHOT WHITE BOARD READING (Arabic): 'WARDA SHAMIAH- EPISODE 12- SCENE 588- DIRECTED BY TAMER ISHAK' SERIES SCRIPT VARIOUS OF ACTORS PLAYING SCENE SYRIAN DIRECTOR, TAMER ISHAK, TALKING TO ACTORS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN DIRECTOR, TAMER ISHAK, SAYING: "This title is very important and it embodies darkness, killing, sadness, miseries for people who lost their mothers, sisters or wives because of dealing with these two women who live in a Damascene avenue." ISHAK TALKING ON SET (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN DIRECTOR, TAMER ISHAK, SAYING: "In this work of their life there is no square, or an avenue but we have a women's souk, a gold souk and so on." VARIOUS OF SYRIAN ACTOR, SALLOUM HADDAD SYRIAN ACTRESS, SULAFAH MEMA, HAVING MAKE-UP DONE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN ACTRESS, SULAFAH MEMAR, SAYING: "This is the first time a series has dealt with two criminal women in this place and this period, which is old." MEMAR TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN ACTRESS, SULAFAH MEMAR, SAYING: "The story is adapted with freedom. We are telling the main story and building many new stories related to the place and the time it is set." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON SET ACTORS FILMING A SCENE SYRIAN-PALESTINIAN ACTRESS, SHUKRAN MURTAJA, STANDING ANOTHER WOMAN ON SET (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN-PALESTINIAN ACTRESS, SHUKRAN MURTAJA, SAYING: "We took the main story and we played around with it. It is not related, some things may be similar, but not exactly as people are expecting."
- Embargoed: 7th February 2017 13:21
- Keywords: TV drama series Warda Shamiah Raya and Sakina serial killers Damascus old city Syria
- Location: DAMASCUS, SYRIA / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
- City: DAMASCUS, SYRIA / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Television
- Reuters ID: LVA00160FTU1H
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A new 30-episode television series being filmed in an old Damascus square is inspired by the infamous crimes of two Egyptian women in the early part of the 20th century.
Directed by Tamer Ishak, 'Warda Shamiah' (Damascene Rose) is loosely based on the story of Egypt's first female serial killers, Raya and Sakina, convicted and executed in 1921 for the murders of several missing women in the Labban neighbourhood of Alexandria, allegedly to steal their gold jewellery.
The Syrian series is based in old Damascus and features two sisters called Warda and Shamiah who commit many different crimes, including killing other women to steal their gold.
Ishak says the name of the drama is a clue to the dark deeds featured in each episode.
"This title is very important and it embodies darkness, killing, sadness, miseries for people who lost their mothers, sisters or wives because of dealing with these two women who live in a Damascene avenue," he said.
Syrian actress Sulafa Memar plays the role of Warda while Syrian-Palestinian actress Shukran Murtaja takes the part of her sister Shamiah.
Syrian actor Salloum Haddad plays the sanitation worker who watches the goings-on in the street, until he falls in love with Warda.
Memar said it was the first time a Syrian drama featured crimes of this type committed by women.
"This is the first time a series has dealt with two criminal women in this place and this period, which is old," Memar said, adding, "The story is adapted with freedom. We are telling the main story and building many new stories related to the place and the time it is set".
The story of Raya and Sakina has previously been dramatised in several films, TV and theatrical productions, but Murtaja says the new series is not a simple reenactment and may not be what audiences are expecting.
"We took the main story and we played around with it. It is not related, some things may be similar, but not exactly as people are expecting," she said.
The cast includes both Syrian and Lebanese actors, among them Youssef Haddad, Nadine Khoury, Alaa Qassem, Nadine Tahsin Bek, Aya Taybah, Zuhair Ramadan, Moatassem al-Nahar, Jalal Shammout, Rawaa Yassine, Majdi Mashmoushi, and Samira Baroudi.
It's the first time since the beginning of the war in Syria in 2011 that Lebanese actors have taken part in a production filmed in Damascus.
Syrian drama suffered a huge setback during the civil war when many Syrian actors left the country.
But in 2016 a number of Syrian actors returned to take part in series called "Khatoun" by the same director and also filmed in the city. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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