Damascus-SANA

Based on Syria's belief in the Arab nation and its constant humanitarian endeavor to stand by the Arab peoples and support them and support them in the face of occupation, colonialism and terrorism, the Syrian television drama has worked to embody and consolidate this belonging and support through production and since the establishment of the Syrian Arab Television to the present day.

The beginning. From black and white.

The beginning was with the first dramatic play "The Stranger" in 1960, which was presented live in black and white, and talked about the Algerian revolution and its heroism and glories, starring Yasser Abu Al-Jabin, Bassam Lotfi, Tharaa Debsi, and directed by Salim Kataya.

The series of works on this issue such as the series Tamr Henna 2001 written by Ahmed Hamed, and directed by Mohamed Ferdous Atassi, who delved into the details of the Algerian revolution, highlighting the role of women in national life in the image of the militant Jamila Bouhired, as well as the series Memory of the Body 2010 based on the novel of the same title prepared by the script and dialogue Reem Hanna, directed by Najda Ismail Anzour, where the work talks about a painter named Khaled who lost his arm during the great liberation war against French colonialism, and falls in love with a beautiful girl, is the daughter of a fighter Algerian.

The Palestinian cause. An intrinsic dramatic element...

As for the central Palestinian issue, it is always present in the minds of writers, and the Syrian drama has presented and continues to present many works, including the television debut Izz al-Din al-Qassam 1981 written by Ahmed Dahbour starring the Almighty Asaad Fadda, and Naharat Oleander 1995 written by Fawaz Eid and directed by Muhammad Zaher Suleiman, and the Palestinian alienation 2004 In the same year, a series returning to Haifa based on the novel of the Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani, prepared by a script and dialogue by Ghassan Nazzal and directed by Basil Al-Khatib, and the series The Invasion 2007 directed by Shawky Mejri, and the travel of stones 2009 written by Hani Al-Saadi and directed by Youssef Rizk, and I am Jerusalem 2010 written by Taleed and Bassel Al-Khatib, and directed by the latter.

Among the autobiography "In the Presence of Absence" on the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish 2011, written by Hassan M. Youssef and directed by Najda Ismail Anzour, and "The Guardian of Jerusalem", the biography of the Syrian Bishop Ilarion Kabouji 2020, also written by Hassan M. Youssef, and directed by Bassel Al-Khatib.

Lebanon.. Migraine wound...

There are works that dealt with the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance, including Letters of Love and War 2007 written by Amal Hanna, directed by Basil Al-Khatib, where the work illustrates the cruelty of war messages from the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and the siege of Beirut and the brutality of the massacres of Sabra and Shatila and the fall of innocent victims, up to the Zionist aggression in July 2006, as well as the series Black Spot 2010 written by Khaldoun Qatlan, and directed by Radwan Mahamid, and the work touched on social life in Damascus during the Lebanon war and the help of the Syrian Arab Army and its reflection on Damascene social life.

Golan. A decisive dramatic situation...

There are series that talked about the occupied Syrian Golan, including "Men of Decisiveness" 2010 written by Fayez Bashir and directed by Najda Ismail Anzour, he talked about the setback of June 1967 and the crimes of the Israeli occupation, and tells the story of the teacher Fares, who participated in the war in defense of the Golan and returned to his village to discover the martyrdom of his mother and brother, so he decided to avenge them by carrying out a commando operation in the occupied territories, where he traveled to Germany and revealed and searched for secrets related to the Mossad to benefit his motherland.

Iraq.. Dramatically in the eyes of the Syrian press...

As for the Iraqi file, it was dealt with several series, including Breaking News 2007 written by Bassam Junaid, directed by Ghazwan Berrijan on the role of the press and media in combating corruption, and the martyrdom of many of them during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, as well as the Iraqi asylum in Syria through the series Relative Calm 2009, where he touched on a similar topic and monitored the travel of a group of media professionals to Iraq ten days before the US invasion, forcing them to stay there for a month before returning to their country to convey each of them the details of what he saw.

Drama.. And the honorable history of Syria....

Within the resistance to the Ottoman occupation and French colonialism, series such as Abu Kamel were produced in two parts 1991 and 1993 written by Dr. Fouad Shurbaji, directed by the late Alaa Al-Din Kokash, in which the period of French colonialism and the Levantine environment and side tales about patriots, resistance and the greed of some for positions were presented.

There are also epic national historical works, including the Brothers of the Soil in its two parts 1996, 1998 story, script and dialogue Hassan M. Youssef, directed by the first Najda Ismail Anzour, and the second Shawky Mejri, where they dealt with the events of the Arab revolution against the Ottoman occupation until its fall and the start of the French colonization of Syria, and the series Days of Anger 1997 written by Dr. Muhammad Qarsli, and directed by Basil Al-Khatib, centered on the Syrian people's confrontation of French colonialism in the highest sense of national spirit and human values, by a young model named Dergham mobilizes all the people of his village, while Series Ferrari 1997 written and directed by Ghassan Bacchus put forward the Ottoman occupation and took young people to military service by force, which led to the escape of some as the character of the young Jamil Al-Misti, who was a model embodied by the artist Bassam Koussa.

The drama of the Levantine environment. Overwhelmed...

Later, most of the series of the Levantine environment dealt with the subject of confronting the Ottoman occupation and French colonialism by highlighting the role of the people of the neighborhoods and their cooperation with the men of the revolution, but they fell into similarities and repetitions of the same contents and stars and following the style of the parts, which lost their luster, most notably the Bab Al-Hara series.

After independence, including the works of the series Al-Whirlpool 2009, the script and dialogue of the late Mamdouh Adwan, directed by Muthanna Sobh, the work dealt with the social, political, economic and cultural structures of Syrian society during the early years of the post-independence period (1949-1951), and revealed external attempts to control the wealth of Arab countries, especially oil, and the Arab countries collectively confronted these attempts.

Unity. With the eye of drama...

At the level of Arab unity, many works have deepened in the presentation of this, including Khan al-Harir in its two parts 1996 and 1998 written by Nihad Siris, where the events of the work took place in the Halabi market and touched on the people's desire for unity in the fifties and its achievement, and then the difficulties that took place and led to separation.

And also the series Hammam Al-Qishani, the first long series at the time in five parts from (1994 to 2003), written by Diab Eid and directed by the late Hani Al-Romani, deepened the work during the period of French colonialism and the bombing of parliament through the evacuation and the Palestine war and the decline of parties and the birth of new ones, then the Syrian-Egyptian unity, also the series Salt of Life 2011 written by Hassan M. Youssef, directed by Ayman Zeidan, and produced by the General Organization for Radio and Television Production, monitoring the demonstrations against French colonialism through independence and beyond until 1958.

As a result of the suffering, the Arabs were forced to emigrate and take refuge, and most of them settled in Damascus, so the series Cloud in the summer of 2009 raised the issue of the displaced Palestinian, Iraqi and Syrian Golan brothers and their coexistence.

Drama.. Issues of terrorism and confronting it are raised.....

Among the works that carried the character of boldness in the presentation of Hoor Al-Ain 2005, written by Hala Diab and directed by Najda Ismail Anzour, dealt with the phenomenon of terrorism and the involvement of ignorant youth in it under the name of jihad, and the rogues 2006, which deepened ten trilogies on terrorism in several countries in the Arab world, writing for several Arab writers, acting for Arab stars, and directing to help Ismail Anzour, and within the same field came the work "What you have your faith" 2010 by the writer and director themselves, highlighted the middle class, its problems and concerns, and on issues such as Religious extremism, corruption and terrorism.

Drama.. Engaging in the concerns of the people.

During the terrorist war on Syria in early 2011, many series were produced about the danger and criminality of terrorist organizations, whether in full episodes or some of them, including the series Under the Sky of the Homeland 2013 through the trilogy "Aziza Ali Baba Omar" dealt with the fatwas of the sheikhs about the so-called jacket marriage and its imposition on Syrian women in the camps, and within the series of all love 2014, director Ghassan Jabri presented a quintet about the kidnapping of a journalist by a terrorist group.

Director Laith Hajo in the series Dabo Al-Shanati talked about the course of war and societal concerns in a comedy format, and the series Spotlight touched on terrorism comically with some paintings.

In the field of tragedy, director Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed went in intensive care in 2015 to show cruel brutality by kidnapping human beings, killing them violently, trafficking in their organs, and the spread of terrorist gangs, while director Rasha Sharbatji in the series Shouq 2017 went to the suffering of women in wars and the practices of extremist terrorism towards them as slaves.

Historical drama. An existing dramatic history...

Within the historical drama, there are many works rich in ancient Arab history, documenting the emergence and expansion of the Islamic state, the entry into Andalusia, the establishment and collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate, the emergence of the Abbasid state, its glory and collapse, in addition to presenting biographies of the most important Arab figures and leaders, and this contributed to the dissemination of the classical Arabic language, especially after the decline in speaking it in public circles, and works (The Revenge of the Zaba 1974 directed by Ghassan Jabri, the Arabic biography 1992 by Ghassan Jabri, Al-Obaidid 1997 by the late writer Riad Saflo and the late director Bassam Al-Mulla).

With the beginning of the second millennium, Al-Zeer Salem, Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi 2001, the Andalusia Trilogy by Dr. Walid Seif, the late director Hatem Ali and Saqr Quraish 2002, Cordoba Spring 2003, Kings of Sects 2005, Hulagu 2002, Al-Hajjaj 2003, Al-Zahir Baybars 2005, Khalid bin Al-Walid in its two parts 2006, 2007, Al-Qaqaa bin Amr Al-Tamimi 2010, Rayat Al-Haq 2010, Cleo Batra 2010, Omar 2012, Harun Al-Rashid 2018, and many series that revive history and remind it always, the most important of which is the biography of the Prophet "Qamar Bani Hashim" 2008 Written by Mahmoud Abdel Karim and the late director Mohamed Sheikh Najib.

Syrian drama. Star Maker...

The Syrian drama not only presented Arab issues and addressed them as contents, but also embraced the contributions of Arab stars in its industry, including Arab production companies, directors and actors from the Arab world, not in historical and Bedouin drama to require it, but also in social and comedy contents, and they continued it over time.

From Lebanon its stars were Ahmed Al-Zein, Pierre Dagher, Rafik Ali Ahmed, Maggie Boughosn and others, and from Jordan Nidal and Wael Najm, Saba Mubarak, Munther Rayhana, the late Yasser Al-Masri, and many, and from Palestine the late Abdul Rahman Abu Al-Qasim, Hassan Owaiti, Tayseer Idris, Ahmed Rafi and his son the martyr Muhammad Rafi, Shukran Murtaja, Abdel Moneim Amayri, the late Youssef Hanna and his sons actor director Rami Hanna, writer Reem Hanna, scriptwriter Taleed Al-Khatib and his brother director Basil Al-Khatib writer Hani Al-Saadi and his daughters Rawaa and Reem, and from Iraq Ayman Reda, from Sudan the late Yasser Abdel Latif, from Morocco Mohamed Miftah, from Tunisia the late director Chaouki Mejri, and from Algeria Amal Bechoucha.

It can be said that the insistence of Syrian drama on purposeful contents and the richness of the human cadre made it sit on the throne of Arab drama and compete with others in many respects and reap a high audience, and remain always shown on Arab satellite channels so that all generations can watch them, and also translated into other languages and reached the world.

Elias Abu Jrab

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