Orphans Of A Nation
Season 1 SABC3 (*193) 18:30 Telenovela
Language is important in telling a story and unlike the Turkish telenovela craze that’s sweeping SA screens, Brazilian telenovela Orphans Of A Nation (originally titled Órfãos Da Terra when it aired in 2019) comes with English dubbing and doesn’t need translating. That was one of the first considerations for co-creator Thelma Guedes (creator of telenovela Joia Rara, 2013), who says, “The subject matter is universal. We’re telling a refugee story, so making it with English dubbing was important as we wanted this to air everywhere.”
While the show is Brazilian and has a 100% Brazilian cast, the producers tried to hire actors who could speak Arabic too, which was easier than expected. “It was surprising to see how many could (speak Arabic) as we speak Portuguese in Brazil, and it’s a very different type of speech,” says co-creator Duca Rachid, who co-created Joia Rara. While the English version we’re seeing is dubbed over completely, in Brazil there are subtitles for the Arabic speech between some of the characters. “In the story, they leave Syria and go to Brazil, but they would still have conversations in their mother tongue, so we wanted to keep that part authentic,” says Thelma.
Orphans does share one similarity with its Turkish counterparts in that it has a forbidden-love aspect. “They say that home is where your heart lives and our leads – Laila (Julia Dalavia, Maria Tereza in drama show Old River, 2016) and Jammil (Renato Góes, Santo in Old River) – are on opposing sides yet they are in love,” says Thelma. “That is something that many people at home can relate to. The fact that they should hate each other is overpowered by love.”