Denzel Washington’s New Role Angers Tunisians

Director Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming Netflix film starring the legendary Denzel Washington already has drama surrounding it.

A French newspaper, Courrier International, says Tunisians have complained that a Black man is playing the Carthaginian general known as Hannibal. Yassine Mami, a member of Parliament, described the general, born in 247 BC in Carthage, now known as Tunis, as being of West Asian Semitic descent. Mami says Washington playing him may be perceived as putting forth a false narrative. “There is a risk of falsifying history: we need to take a position on this subject,” he told the publication.

Tunisian newspaper La Presse also published an article saying that Hannibal being depicted as a Black African is “according to Tunisians and many observers, a historical error.”

The movie is based on the life of Hannibal, considered by many to be one of the greatest military commanders in history. According to Variety, the pivotal battles he led against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War will be shown throughout the film. The war hero invaded Italy on the back of a North African war elephant. The Carthaginians won several victories against the Romans, allowing Hannibal to take over most of southern Italy for 15 years.

His reign ended after being defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Zama.

While Parliament officials aren’t excited about the film, Tunisian Culture Minister Hayet Ketat-Guermazi understands it’s for entertainment purposes. “It’s fiction. It is their Netflix’s right to do what they want,” Guermazi said in response to the article. “Hannibal is a historical figure, and we are all proud that he was Tunisian. But what can we do?” 

The culture minister hopes to cash in on the movie, saying she’s trying to negotiate with the streaming platform to film some of the films in Tunisia.