CAIRO – “Without doubt, ex-president Hosni Mubarak's trial is a first, not only in Egypt but in the whole Arabic world, and it makes the best TV series," Egyptian critic Tareq el-Shennawi told the Egyptian Mail in an interview. This world-shaking event started at the beginning of the fasting month, a result of the January 25 revolution that toppled Mubarak and inspired the whole world while raising political awareness among Egyptians. Although more than 40 Arabic serials are broadcast during the holy month of Ramadan this year, people have been very keen to watch Mubarak's trial instead. "Nothing can compare to this trial. Everybody anticipated it so eagerly. That's why it was hard to switch channels," el-Shennawi explained. Increased political awareness in Egypt after the revolution is clearly reflected in Egyptian Ramadan dramas; this year's productions are all about the Arab spring. Most of the dramas are of high quality and without repetitions, there is great freedom, which was not the case under the previous regime. "Although I'm against introducing a series about the revolution at this moment in time, because some details are still vague and unfinished, I enjoyed watching the Egyptian series El-Mwaten X (Citizen X). It is one of four series I like this year," explained el-Shennawi. El-Mwaten X (Citizen X) is about a young man named Ahmed (known as X) who is killed in a severe accident at the beginning of the series. Director Osman Abu Laban and writer Mohamed Nayer took the story from real life and were inspired by Khaled Said, a 28-year-old Egyptian, who died under dubious circumstances in the Sidi Gaber district of Alexandria on June 6, 2010 after the police arrested him. Photos of his disfigured corpse spread across online communities and incited outrage over allegations that he was beaten to death by security forces. Dawaran Shubra is another well-written series, watched by el-Shennawi and a large number of Egyptians. Instead of putting the cross near the crescent and say 'we are one' in a very naïve way, director Khaled el-Haggar and writer Amr el-Dali explore the relationship and affinity of Muslims and Christians by depicting real-life events. One of the districts where Muslims and Christians live side by side is Shubra in Cairo. "Dawaran Shubra is a good series but I won't rate it until I see the last episode," said el-Shennawi. In Khatem Soliman, actor Khaled el-Sawi captivated the audience from the very first episode by skillfully portraying a genius surgeon with a good character. The series sheds light on corruption during Mubarak's rule. The director of the series, Ahmed Abdel Hameed, mentioned in an interview that the last episode would end with scenes from the January 25 revolution. Although director Gamal Abdel Hameed offered good quality and great visuals in his latest series El-Shaware' el-Khalfiya (Back Streets) based on Abdel Rahman al-Sharqawy's eponymous novel, the series is not getting high viewer ratings. The reason is that the two protagonists, Gamal Soliman and Laila Elwy, were blacklisted by protesters because they had been against the revolution. Syrian actor Gamal Soliman was in favour of the Assad regime, while Egyptian actress Laila Elwi was against the Egyptian revolution; she is married to a businessman, a relative of Mubarak. But even if they were against the revolution one should admit that they have created a good and well-written series that may still attract many viewers. "The best four series are El-Shwaree el-Khalfia, ‘Dawaran Shubra', ‘El-Mwaten X' and ‘Khatem Soliman'. Their directors have come up with good works, good visuals and they care about the actors. These elements are lost in other series," el-Shennawi explained. Many series criticise Mubarak's regime, shed light on police brutality or imitate the revolution. And then there is Al-Hassan wa al-Hussein, a big historical production about the life of Prophet Mohamed's grandsons in the period of the "Great Sedition" of the early Islamic Empire. Although Al-Azhar issued a statement demanding the banning of the drama on the grounds that portraying Prophet Muhammed's grandsons and companions was forbidden, many satellite channels show it and global viewer ratings are high. The Syrian series directed by Abdul Bari Abu al-Kheir depicts the early days of Islam after the Prophet's death perfectly and portrays some of his companions, which has led to huge controversy among Islamic scholars in the Arab world. "In my opinion, making a big production about a controversial issue is just like walking on egg shells. But even without the controversy, I don't like the two protagonists who portray the major characters al-Hassan and al-Hussein. The director miscast them," explained el-Shennawi, who liked another Syrian series called Shehrazad, al-Hekaya al-Akheera (Shehrazad, the Last Story). Shehrazad, al-Hekaya al-Akheera is directed by Shawqi al-Mageri and tells the story of Queen Shehrazad, who keeps on telling stories to her husband Shehrayar. "Al-Mageri is one of the important contemporary directors in the Arab world. He uses his tools with great skill and spices the story with details and wonderful visuals. His use of music is also very impressive," said the Egyptian critic. This year's dramas also introduce biographies of famous characters like veteran Lebanese singer Sabah; a dramatic series called Al-Shahrora (The Songbird), directed by Ahmed Shafik, starring Lebanese singer Carol Samaha, who didn't get close to the real Sabah although she made a valiant effort. Another biographical drama is Fi Hadret el-Gheyab about the life of late Palestinian poet and writer Mahmoud Darwish (1941 - 2008), a symbol of the Palestinian resistance. The series, directed by Nagdat Esmail Anzour, is also among the important Syrian dramas this year. There is an Egyptian biography; the series Ragel Men Haza el-Zaman (A Man of this Era), directed by veteran director Enaam Mohamed Ali. The series tackles the life of Egyptian scientist, mathematician and physicist Moustafa Mousharafa (1898-1950), portrayed by Egyptian actor Ahmed Shaker. Director Enaam Mohammed Ali, who has had much success with a biographical series on Om Kalthoum and another one on the Arab world's first feminist, jurist Qassem Amin, describes ‘A Man for this Era' as a necessary for highlighting the importance of scientists, particularly after the January uprising. Another highly viewed Egyptian series is El-Rayan about the life of Egyptian businessman Ahmed el-Rayan, former owner of the el-Rayan Group, who was convicted of fraud in 1989 for a scam involving billions of Egyptian pounds and imprisoned for 22 years. El-Rayan is directed by Shereen Adel and stars Egyptian actor Khaled Saleh. It is obvious that the bad economic situation in Egypt after the revolution affected many productions. Audiences are accustomed to seeing major stars in the Ramadan series and their absence was clearly noticed; particularly Youssra or Elham Shahin, who stopped filming her series The Case of Her Excellency the Minister and Yahya Fakhrani, who only did a voice-over in the cartoon series Stories of Animals in the Qur'an. Female leads have a strong presence in this year's dramas, including Samara, starring actress Ghada Abdel Razek and dancer Loussy, or Keed el-Nesa (Women's Wit), starring Somaia el-Khashab and Fifi Abdou. Regrettably, these dramas don't show the heroic roles played by women during the revolution but only portray them as seductive icons. Some film stars join the Ramadan series this year, among them singer and actor Tamer Hosny, who was crying like child in a youtube video in February after he got kicked out of Tahrir Square by protesters. Tamer is back in the more dignified role of Adam in a series with the same name. Hosny plays a poor young man who works in a pizza restaurant. He supports his family after his father's death. Tamer seems to achieve with this series what he didn't during the revolution. A number of sequels are also continuing this season, including season eight of the sitcom Ragel we sett setat (A Man and Six Women), part two of Goz mama meen (Who is Mama's Husband?), part three of El-Dali, and the comedy show El-Kibir Auwi (The Great One), starring Ahmed Mekky who captivates people of all ages. "Although the number of dramas declined this year, one can't say that the quality is bad; on the contrary, there are many very good series," said el-Shennawi. Last year Egypt offered 75 dramas on private and official satellite channels, but this year the number of series is just 44. "The smaller number of series paved the way for audiences to watch new programmes and TV shows," stated the critic.
