The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Action and reaction
After backlash to Netflix’s Black ‘Queen Cleopatra,’ Egypt plans counterprogramming
Netflix on Wednesday finally released its polarizing “African Queens” docuseries “Queen Cleopatra,” which depicts the Egyptian ruler as Black. But Egypt has already launched counterprogramming plans to tell its own version of the Pharaonic ruler’s story using “the highest levels of research and scrutiny.”
Al Wathaeqya, the Egyptian state-backed Documentary Channel, announced plans to produce a documentary with the government-owned broadcaster, United Media Services — an apparent response to what some Egyptian critics called “historical revisionism” in “Queen Cleopatra” by Netflix and others.
“Starting as usual in all documentary production sector and documentary channel work, there are working sessions currently being held with a number of specialists in history, archaeology, and anthropology; to subject research related to the subject of the film and its image to the highest levels of research and scrutiny,” the channel said, according to a translation of its Facebook post.
Independent filmmaker and Egyptologist Curtis Ryan Woodside also posted a 90-minute English-language documentary about Cleopatra VII on his YouTube channel Wednesday, rejecting “biased” opinions and “misinformed,” modern and American iterations of the queen. The film discusses Egypt’s multiracial society and features commentary from Kathleen Martinez, a Dominican archaeologist “in search of Cleopatra,” and Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s former minister of state for antiquities affairs who has vehemently opposed Netflix’s portrayal of the ancient ruler.
Hawass also railed Wednesday against Netflix’s documentary series — the “African Queens” collection is produced by Jada Pinkett Smith — during an Arabic-language interview on Egypt’s MBC network. He said when he’s given lectures in the U.S., he has been confronted by Black demonstrators calling him a liar.
But he said he believes they have “disorganized thinking” when it comes to ancient Egypt, which is his field of expertise.
He also reiterated in the interview that the only Egyptian rulers known to have been Black were the Kushite kings of the 25th dynasty (747-656 BC), and he pushed back against Black Americans who have claimed that the Egyptian civilization has Black origins and are “obsessed” with the colonization of Egypt throughout its history.
He also hoped Netflix would also stream the documentaries about Cleopatra that he has worked on. (The Al Wathaeqya channel also recently acquired Hawass’ “Roots of Ancient Egypt,” scheduled to air in May.)
Cleopatra was born in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria in 69 BC and succeeded her father in 51 BC to rule until her death in 30 BC amid the expansion of the Roman Empire.
Egyptologists have confirmed that she was Macedonian-Greek on the side of her father, Ptolemy XII, but her maternal heritage is less clear.
Little is known about her birth mother’s ethnic origin. Historians have said it’s possible that she, or any other female ancestor, was an Indigenous Egyptian or from elsewhere in Africa.
“Queen Cleopatra” splices dramatic reenactments of the ruler’s stories with expert interviews.
It sparked a backlash in the North African nation for casting mixedrace British actor Adele James as the Pharaonic ruler — the last queen of the Greek-speaking dynasty founded by Alexander the Great’s Macedonian general Ptolemy.
The casting decision, and James’ appearance in the trailer last month, further ignited the longdebated discourse about Cleopatra’s maternal heritage, with many people taking issue with her potential Black heritage being presented in the documentary series as factual record rather than a theory.