Denzel Washington's Hannibal Role in Netflix's New Project Sparks Controversy

The decision to cast veteran actor Denzel Washington in an upcoming Netflix biopic of the famed hero of ancient Carthage has sparked particular controversy in Tunisia, where the prominent politician is now from.

Actor Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth

The controversy is similar to the incident earlier this year when Egypt protested against the film about Queen Cleopatra over Netflix's assertions about the character's ethnicity. The conflicting opinions are still raging in the press, social media, and the Tunisian parliament .

The French-language Tunisian news portal La Presse published an article saying that giving the role to Denzel Washington had created “a huge historical mistake.” While on social media, some accounts accused Netflix of abusing the controversy to make their work more prominent.

An online petition signed by 1,300 people has also asked Netflix to “cancel the documentary” and called on Tunisia’s culture ministry to “take action against this attempt to steal history”.

Hannibal, born in Carthage, near modern-day Tunisia, is widely regarded as one of the greatest military leaders in human history. During his war against the Romans in 218 BC, he led his army and war elephants across the Alps to attack Rome from the north. During these 15 years, he repeatedly made Rome "shake with fear," but did not destroy the center of the city at that time.

Roman bust of Hannibal found at Capua

Hannibal’s skin color is not known with certainty. Historians of the Mediterranean region largely agree that he was of Phoenician descent – ​​the area that includes modern Lebanon and Syria. But this is not entirely certain, as he lived in a time when empires were intermingling and merging.

The issue of race has recently been brought to the forefront in Tunisia by the influx of sub-Saharan migrants into the country. President Kais Saied was impeached earlier this year, accused of creating “imaginary enemies”, when he claimed without evidence that migrants were part of a wider campaign to overtake Tunisia’s “pure African” Arab majority.

After Netflix announced Washington’s role, MP Yassine Mami also questioned Culture Minister Hayet Ketat Guermazi about the project in parliament. “The ministry should have a consistent position on this event,” said Mami, who is also the chairman of the Tunisian Committee for Tourism, Culture and Services. “It is about protecting Tunisian identity and listening to the reactions of civil society,” he said.

However, Guermazi, speaking before the state council, said her ministry would focus on negotiating with Netflix to film some scenes in Tunisia rather than arguing about how to stay true to the original.

“The work is fiction. That is their right. Hannibal is a historical figure, even if we are all proud that he is Tunisian, so what is the point of arguing about skin color?” Guermazi added: “What is important to me is that they have the ability to shoot even one scene in Tunisia, so that audiences all over the world can know our country. We want Tunisia to be the setting for more and more foreign films.”

Earlier this year, Netflix cast Adele James, a black actress, as Cleopatra, prompting the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to issue a statement saying the female pharaoh had “fair skin and Greek features.”

Netflix and Denzel Washington have yet to comment on the matter.

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