“Safar Berlak” – A Gripping Depiction of Agonizing Times a Century On

The horrific story of the people of Madinah with the crime of “Safar Berlik” is still engraved in the memory of the elderly who lived through that brutal incident, which is the catastrophe of forced mass displacement, which the Ottoman Empire implemented in 1915 against thousands of men, women and children from the residents of Madinah, before and during the period First World War. This painful historical incident is covered by the series “Safar Berlak”, which is currently being shown on the “MBC” channel. The four are a journey of political awareness and moving from the corridors of educational attainment to the battle fronts with the Ottoman army first in the Balkan battles on the Russian borders, and then the rebellion against the oppression of the Ottoman Sultanate and the brutality of its practices.

search trip

The hero of the work, the Saudi actor, Abd al-Rahman al-Yamani, talks to Asharq Al-Awsat about his prior preparations, saying, “I read about the (Safar Berlak) incident a lot, and I asked my friends in Medina, and some of them connected me with their relatives who lived through what happened, and some sent me articles by historians in Medina. And it took me about a month to search to understand the details of this incident.

Saudi actor Abd al-Rahman al-Yamani, the hero of “Safar Berlak” (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Al-Yamani points out that many of the viewers of the work did not know this historical event, and the series prompted them to search, read and learn more about it, indicating that the work reaped great positive echoes after showing its first episodes, and he adds: “It is wonderful that the artist contributes to educating the public about a historical incident that took place.” I am honored to be a part of this huge project.

And about his role in the character of “Abdul Rahman Al-Madani,” he says, “It is one of the most important roles I played, because it includes many things that are far from my true personality, unlike what happens when the artist plays a role close to parts of his real personality.”

Despite the similarity of the name, between the artist and the hero of the work, Al-Yamani says, “One of the most prominent differences is that I am an energetic person and I have a strong and clear body language, while Abd al-Rahman al-Madani is a calm and somewhat mysterious person, who tends to be sober and thinks in advance about his steps, so his audacity is not high. He also clings to many of the principles and beliefs he believes in, while the reality comes against him, and from here begins the psychological struggle, as it is never easy to destroy someone’s principles or change easily.

community reading

Al-Yamani confirms that the character of Abd al-Rahman in “Safar Berlak” does not deal with a simple topic, but rather deals with a country that requires its defense, and an injustice that a large crowd of people swallows, and adds: “It is difficult for any normal person to ignore these matters, unless he is a traitor to his country and his religion.” Or a foolish person,” explaining that Abd al-Rahman’s personality in the work is that of an educated person who studies at that time as a scholarship student, where he studies in another country in a different language with a different society, while he belongs to a family that has its social, cultural and political weight in Medina.

These matters, the hero of the work indicates, made the character of Abd al-Rahman al-Madaini have an excellent background on the way of life and reading society and the circumstances surrounding it, which formed the conflict for him, and he continues by saying, “In addition to that, a group of intellectual, emotional and social shocks would awaken a person, to discover that life Not as he sees it.

Memory of Hatem Ali

Filming the series “Safar Berlak” took about two years, according to Al-Yamani, and this series is the last project that the late Syrian director Hatem Ali prepared for, a few days before his death. Historical aspect, a workshop of specialists and researchers in history.

And about the moment Abdul Rahman Al-Yamani met with the late director Hatem Ali; The one who asked to meet him about his role in the work tells that he entered him and said to him very spontaneously, “I love you, my mother loves you, my father loves you, and the whole Arab world loves you, so your works are still present, and we have grown up on your series,” describing his meeting with the late director as a moment. for the date.

A large number of actors from Saudi Arabia and the Arab world are participating in the series, including Abdul Rahman Al Yamani, Abed Fahd, Anas Tayara, Wissam Fares, Bio Shehan, Moayad Al Thaqafi, Mila Al Zahrani, Khaled Yaslam, and Hind Muhammad.

MBC stated, in a previous press statement, that the scenes of Medina in the series were filmed in a city that was built specifically to simulate the events, on an area of ​​25,000 square meters. As for the scenes of Istanbul, a city was also built for it on an area of ​​about 20,000 square meters. , as well as scenes of wars and fronts in Siberia and the Caucasus, as well as other scenes filmed in Damascus and Beirut. Director Alejandro Toledo handled battle scenes, action and crowd management, while director Ricardo Cruz was responsible for managing horse battles and crowds.