Who is Tina Gharavi? Iranian filmmaker caught in 'blackwashing' storm over Netflix's Cleopatra
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Netflix has landed itself in yet another controversial debate. Its new docuseries, ‘Queen Cleopatra,’ has been accused of "blackwashing" the legacy of the legendary queen, Cleopatra. The director behind the series is an Iranian filmmaker Tina Gharavi who has been nominated for a BAFTA and feted at Sundance for her previous work. Jada Pinkett Smith produced the show that cast its Cleopatra after several grueling rounds of auditions. Gharavi finally picked Adele James of ‘Casualty’ fame to portray the role of Cleopatra.
The series focuses on Cleopatra, Egypt's final pharaoh, and her battle to preserve her reign, family, and legacy. Cleopatra is considered to be the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty and the show encompasses that in full effect. However, after Gharavi picked a Black actress to play the role of Cleopatra, the show has received immense backlash even before its release, especially from Egyptians. A lawyer has even sued the streaming giant, accusing it of 'erasing' the identity of Egypt. But who is Tina Gharavi, the woman battling to prove her vision? Let’s find out.
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Who is Tina Gharavi?
Tina Gharavi is a 50-year-old Iranian-born British-American filmmaker who was nominated for a BAFTA award back in 2013 for her thought-provoking film called ‘I am Nasrine.’ Gharavi is known for her stories on misfits and rebels, and in a way, Queen Cleopatra’s story is right up her alley. She made her debut back in 2001 with a documentary called ‘Closer’ which was selected for the official competition at Sundance. With over two decades of experience, Gharavi has established a foothold in the entertainment industry with her documentary style of filmmaking.
What did Tina Gharavi say about 'Queen Cleopatra'?
In an op-ed with Variety, Gharavi opened up about all the criticisms and backlash that her upcoming series ‘Queen Cleopatra’ has received so far. In reply to all the trolls and negative comments, Gharavi has kept her poise intact and made interesting comments which are rooted in facts.
Gharavi said, "It was important to get things right, but also to find a way of telling the story with humanism and nuance: The last thing we needed was another Cleopatra divorced from her womanhood and her power only sexualized." However, while addressing the biggest issue of ‘blackwashing’ Cleopatra, Gharavi had this to say about it. "I remember as a kid seeing Elizabeth Taylor play Cleopatra. I was captivated, but even then, I felt the image was not right. Was her skin really that white? The known facts are that her Macedonian Greek family - the Ptolemaic lineage - intermarried with West Asian's Seleucid dynasty and had been in Egypt for 300 years," she said. "Cleopatra was eight generations away from these Ptolemaic ancestors, making the chance of her being white somewhat unlikely."
Gharavi was sure that the idea of Cleopatra being white was laughable and questioned the earlier choices of Theda Bara, Monica Bellucci, Angelina Jolie, and Gal Gadot to play Cleopatra. Gharavi remarked: "Why shouldn't Cleopatra be a melanated sister? And why do some people need Cleopatra to be white? Her proximity to whiteness seems to give her value, and for some Egyptians, it seems to really matter."
This chain of thought forced many on the internet to send hate-filled comments to Gharavi. She said that many threatened to ruin her career to which she replied, "I was ruining it very well for myself, thank you very much!" Gharavi questioned Hollywood’s ways of depicting the African queen. "We need to have a conversation with ourselves about our colorism, and the internalized white supremacy that Hollywood has indoctrinated us with. Most of all, we need to realize that Cleopatra's story is less about her than it is about who we are." Gharavi mentioned that she is happy with how the series has turned out to be. The debates may continue but Gharavi is sure of one thing: Cleopatra was not white.
‘Queen Cleopatra’ will be released on Netflix on May 10