With the participation of more than 60 Arab artists, Jordanian director Ahmed Dea’ibes is shooting the huge TV series A’ed Ela Haifa (Returning to Haifa) based on a novel bearing the same title by the late Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani.
“I consider this series as an important point in the course of my artistic career and that it is something else as compared to my previous work. So I am keen on presenting a drama that suits the novel and its writer, Ghassan Kanafani,” Dea’ibes told the Jordanian daily al Arab al Yawm.
He added that, “he was making contacts with the Lebanese singer Marcel Khalifa to participate in the series by composing music for the introduction and conclusion particularly in view of the fact that both are based on poems by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. Previously, Khalifa composed many music pieces and sang a large number of songs based on Darwish’s poems. The artists Hussein Nazek and Abdulla Saad will participate in the imaging music in addition to a large number of Palestinian heritage songs.”
“The series budget is estimated at 2,250,000 dollars and it will be shot in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan with the participation of more than 6o actors. 45 of the participating artists will be from Jordan including Jamil Awwad, Juliet Awwad, Mohammed al Qabbani, Ali Abdel Aziz, Yaser al Masri, Nabil al Mashini, Hisham al Henaidi, Yousef Yousef, Daoud Jalajel, Anwar Khalil and Saba Mubarak. Participating artists from Syria include Bassam Kousa, Amal Arafeh, Abdel Rahman Abu al Qasem, Zinat Qudsiyyeh and Abdel Mine’m Amayreh. Ghassan Matar and Mohammed Said from Palestine will play roles in the series while Ahmed al Zein from Lebanon will play his role. From Egypt, actress Ghadah Abdel Razzaq will the role as an Egyptian Jewish woman,” the paper said.
The series was scripted by Ghassan Nazzal based on a novel by the late Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani which was previously adapted to a film directed by Qasem Hole from Iraq -- Albawaba.com
