The casting of black actor Denzel Washington as the famed Carthaginian commander Hannibal Barca in an upcoming Netflix movie has sparked racial controversy in the warlord’s home country, Tunisia. A British newspaper reports this Guardian.
The ruins of Carthage are an ancient city located on the outskirts of the city of Tunis, the capital of the Tunisian state. It was noted that Hannibal’s skin color was unknown. Some believe he is white.
As the Tunisian publication wrote: La PresseWashington’s choice of this role created a “historical mistake.” Some social media users accused Netflix of promoting “woke culture.” An online petition with 1,300 signatures called on the company to “cancel its fake documentary” and called on the Tunisian Ministry of Culture to “take action against the attempt to steal our history.”
Before this, it was known that American director Antoine Fuqua, known for his films “Training Day” and “The Great Equalizer”, would shoot an epic drama about Hannibal for Netflix. Three-time Oscar nominee (The Aviator, Gladiator and The Timekeeper) John Logan will write the script.
Formerly Barry Keoghan lost his role Emperor, the sequel to Gladiator.
Source: Gazeta
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