“She was more like Adele James than Liz Taylor”

Queen Cleopatra is dividing the world, the black skin of the North African queen in the Netflix series has scandalized Egyptpointing the finger at the attempt to “blackwashing” of history. To defend his Cleopatra is the director Tina Gharavi, an Iranian-born activist (BAFTA and Sundance Festival nominee) who wrote an article in the pages of Variety to vindicate her choice. “What annoys you so much about a black Cleopatra? What historians can confirm is that Cleopatra is more likely to look like Adele than she ever is Elizabeth Taylor.”

The protagonist of the TV series ‘Queen Cleopatra’, which will debut on Netflix on next May 10thwill be the black actress Adele Jameswho will try her hand at the difficult role of the legendary sovereign of Egypt, who entered the history of cinema with the face of the unforgettable Liz Taylor in the famous blockbuster Cleopatra (1963), alongside Richard Burton. Due to the choice of cast, Gharavi and executive producer Jada Pinkett-Smith were awarded heavy criticism, who accuse ‘Queen Cleopatra’ of revisiting history. “After many discussions and countless auditions – explains the director – we found in Adele James an actress capable of transmitting not only Cleopatra’s beauty, but also her strength.

Why shouldn’t Cleopatra be a black sister? And why do some people want Cleopatra to be white? Her closeness to her whiteness seems to give her value, and to some Egyptians it seems really important.”

The myth of Cleopatra Tèa Filopàtore (this is the exact name) has entered the history of the Mediterranean, an Egyptian sovereign who has become a character who goes beyond the borders of the world. “I remember as a child watching Elizabeth Taylor play Cleopatra. I was fascinated – says Tina Gharavi – but even then I felt the picture wasn’t right. Was her skin really that white? With this new production, could I find the answers about Cleopatra’s legacy and free her from the grip that Hollywood had placed on her image of her?”.

Did Cleopatra have black skin?

The famous Egyptian queen was from ancient Macedonian origins, of the Ptolemaic lineage, who at one point tied his fate to the Seleucid dynasty of western Asia, which had lived in Egypt for 300 years. “Cleopatra was eight generations away from these Ptolemaic ancestors – recalls Tina – making the possibility that she was white highly unlikely. After 300 years, surely, we can safely say that Cleopatra was Egyptian. She was no more Greek or Macedonian than Rita Wilson or Jennifer Aniston. Both are a generation originally from Greece.” “Doing research, I realized that political act it would have been to see Cleopatra played by a black actress,” the director points out. “For me, the idea that people were so incredibly wrong (from Theda Bara to Monica Bellucciand recently with Angelina Jolie

And Gal Gadot, racing to play her) meant we had to do it. The hunt was on to find the right artist for bring Cleopatra into the 21st century”. And so it was.

A strong woman, not a sex symbol

“As the production approached – says the director, Tina Gharavi – I realized the scope and the political nature of this work. It was important to sort things outbut also find a way to tell the story with its nuances: the last thing we needed was another Cleopatra separated from her femininity and her only sexualized power”. The Hbo series ‘Rome‘ portrayed one of the world’s most intelligent, sophisticated and powerful women “as a squalid, dissipated drug addict, but Egypt didn’t seem to care.” And Tina wonders: “Where was the indignation then?”. And she adds: “Maybe it’s not just that I directed a series that portrays Cleopatra as black”, the problem is that “I have asked the Egyptians to see themselves as Africans and they are furious with me because of this”.

‘I’m the target of a hate campaign’

“During filming, I became the target of a huge online hate campaign. The Egyptians have accused me of ‘covering up’ and ‘stealing’ their history. Some have threatened to ruin my career. No memory that the Arab invasions hadn’t happened in Cleopatra’s time,” adds Tina. So, was Cleopatra black? We don’t know for sure, but we have to ask ourselves about internalized white supremacy that Hollywood has indoctrinated us with”.

“I am proud to stand with ‘Queen Cleopatra” – a reinvented Cleopatra – and the team that made this one. We have reimagined a world over 2,000 years ago where once there was a exceptional woman who reigned

. I would like to draw a direct line from her to the Egyptian women who lifted during the Arab revolts and with my Persian sisters who are rebelling against a brutal regime today. Never before has it been so important to have women leaders: black or white.

Who is Tina Gharavi

Tina Gharavi is an Iranian-born filmmaker. Her’s First Drama Her’I am Nasrine‘ was named to the BAFTA 2013. His next documentary – ‘Tribalism is Killing Us‘, to be released by the end of the year – will be inspired by his visit to the state prison of Angola. Gharavi teaches directing in different countries of the world and has received a scholarship from MIT. In 2017, she was elected to the Bafta membership.