Shooting has begun with Jordanian actor Iyad Nassar in the role of Hassan el-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, in a TV biographic of the group written by Wahid Hamed and directed by Mohamed Yassin.
The series is expected to cause widespread controversy when it is aired next Ramadan.
Nassar had to grow his beard in order to resemble el-Banna in his 30s, while the director will cast a younger actor to play el-Banna during his schooldays.
The first part of the series will end at the point of el-Banna’s death, in 1949.
Yassin, the director, hired a sheikh to teach the actors proper pronunciation of Quranic verses and Hadith. So far six hours of shooting have been completed and another 14 weeks are anticipated to finish the project. Already finished are scenes on the current events the group is facing. Yassin will then start shooting the periods of the 1930s and 1960s, including the time of King Farouk, which will be shot inside Abdeen Palace.
In a related development, el-Banna’s son Seif el-Islam has denied claims by Hamed, the series’ writer, that the group tore out parts of el-Banna’s books. “My father’s books and letters are published, uncut, all over the world,” said el-Islam, who added that there is no difference in thought between the old members of the group at the time of El-Banna and the members of today.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
