Egyptian screenwriter Mageda Khairallah has wrapped up scripting the film al Malikah Farida (Queen Farida) which actress Yusra has been tapped to play the starring role in. The film is about the life history of the Queen since her marriage to King Farouq until her death.
The writer is currently seeking a producer to finance her film, which is set in 1938, when Farida got married at the age of 16 to King Farouq until her death in 1989.
“The film tackles many stages of Farida’s life starting from the time when her mother, Zainab Thu al Fiqar, was chaperon for Queen Nazli who was searching for a wife for her son Farouq. Farouq came close to Farida during a journey to Switzerland, loved and married her but they were separated after she gave birth to three girls,” Khairalla told the daily al Hayat.
After 1952 revolution, Farida moved from Cairo to Beirut and refused to get married again. Then she traveled to France where the then Shah of Iran bought her an apartment, which continued to be a burden on her due to the high taxes. This spurred her to establish an exhibition for paintings, which she used to draw personally. After she was sick with cancer, she was allowed to return to Egypt in 1983; given an apartment in the Cairo neighborhood of al Maadi and received treatment at the Egyptian government’s expense.
“Farida’s character is worth studying particularly in view of the fact that she was a normal Egyptian citizen beloved at working class level. I based my writing on 11 sources the most prominent of which were articles written by Mustafa Amin and an English book on Farouq’s regime entitled End of Monarchy in Egypt. This is in addition to a documentary film on this period since King Fuad took office until Farouq died in Italy -- Albawaba.com
