CAIRO: After months of filming, the company behind Egyptian satirical puppet Abla Fahita’s “Live from the Duplex” series has revealed that the character’s Netflix premiere is due to be screened in the first half of next year.
The six-episode “Drama Queen” series will see Fahita starring in an action-packed comedy adventure alongside her children Caro and Boudi, and actors Bassem Samra, Donia Maher, and Osama Abdallah.
The series has been directed by Khaled Marei and written by Abla Fahita with the participation of Muhammad Al-Jamal, George Azmy, Dina Maher, Sara Murad, and Mahmoud Ezzat, and was produced by OKWRD Productions in cooperation with ASAP Productions and executive producer Amin El-Masry.
The first part of the series was filmed in early August through mid-October in various locations in Cairo under strict health and safety precautions designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Fahita returned to present her television program in April, on channel, but due to the lack of a live studio audience as a result of COVID-19 restrictions the show was not as successful as previous outings.
The puppet character was created and is voiced by Egyptian Hatem El-Kashef, who studied theater and traveled to the US to complete his studies. Fahita is a housewife with two sons and first appeared on screens in 2011.
Part of Netflix’s recent focus has been on producing original works directed to the Arab world and in local dialect.
“Paranormal,” taken from a series of novels with the same name by the late Egyptian writer Ahmed Khaled Tawfik, is one such project. It stars actor Ahmed Amin playing the character of Dr. Rifaat Ismail, and premieres on Nov. 5.
Other Netflix productions are linked with Egyptian singer Amr Diab and Tunisian actress Hend Sabry.
Critic, Amer Abu Hatab, said Netflix’s move into Arab works was important and confirmed the global attraction of the region to audiences.
