Nader Atassi to adopt another Fayruz classic, into cinema

Syrian filmmaker Nader Atassi, who is famous for producing the works of Fayruz back in the 1960s, is now back to cinema after more than a 10-year absence. Atassi is bankrolling a film, to be directed by Hatem Ali, the Syrian director of the Egyptian drama King Farouk, called Hala wa al-Malek (Hala and the King). It would be a cinematic adaptation of a stage musical performed by Fayruz and the late Nasri Shamsuddine on the Piccadilly Theatre in Beirut in 1967. Antone Kirbaj, a veteran of the works of the Rahbani Brothers, will replace the late Shams al-Din while Miriam Fares, a young Lebanese singer, is on the shortlist to perform instead of Fayruz. The plot deals with the king of Selina, who decides to hold a masquerade party at which he will seek a bride, after hearing of a prophesy saying that his future wife will show up at the kingdom, wearing a mask. A poor girl selling masks, originally played by Fayruz, finds her way to the party, and the king’s heart is instantly captured.
Atassi had produced Fayruz’s film-adaptation of the play Baya al-Khawatem (The Ring Seller) back in 1964, starring Nasri Shamsuddine and Felemon Wehbe.