MBC GROUP’s Shahid announces major period drama “Slave Market”

Shahid, the world’s leading Arabic streaming platform by MBC GROUP, announces the debut of its new period drama, “Slave Market” (دكة العبيد).

A Shahid Original series produced by MBC STUDIOS, “Slave Market” – one of the platform’s most significant productions of the year – will release on Shahid on Friday 13 January 2023.

Penned by Kuwaiti writer, Heba Mashari Hamada, and directed by the award-winning Tunisian director, Lassaad Oueslati, the series narrates five stories taking place simultaneously in different parts of the world. Set in the 1900s, whilst these stories may differ in detail, they all intersect at the fate of each story’s protagonist when they all fall into slavery. The first season of the drama (nine episodes) follows the journey of the five main characters – Rahma (Arabian Peninsula), Colonel Morton (and his English family living in Jeddah), Lavani (Mumbai), Quako and Natanda (Eastern Africa), and Khorshid’s family (European Caucasus) – up to the point they all end up at the slave market.

Featuring a multi-national cast from Saudi Arabia, the Arab region, and beyond, “Slave Market” stars Fayez Bin Jurays, Apeksha Porwal, Al Anoud Saud, Hashim Najdi, Haneen Turkistany, Nawaf Al-Dhufairi, Nagham Almalki, Marzouk Al Ghamdy, Saeed Al Qahtani, Shyam Kishore, Janique Charles, Chris J Gordon, Avant Strangel, Justina Biosah, Genlee Motlana, Paballo Owami Landu, Shannon Gaskin, Nick Cornwall, Natasha Choufani, Lauren Elise Thomas, Nizar Alsulaimani, Sumaiah Abdulwahab and more.

“Slave Market” was filmed across 104 locations depicting various parts of the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe, and features 70 main cast members as well as a 150-strong supporting cast and over 17,000 extras.

To accommodate scenes at sea, more than 35 interior and exterior designs, depicting ships from that period, were built exclusively for the series.

A total of 4,700 costumes were specially created for the series, with wardrobe design led by Yasmine El Kadi.

Also involved are Ahmed Abdelaziz (DOP), Yehia Allam (Production Designer), Firas Ibrahim (Executive Director), Ayman Ibrahim (Line Producer), Mostafa Tantawi (VFX), Ragui Hanna (VFX Supervisor), and Mostafa Aly (Sound Engineer).

[Source: MBC press release]