Casting of Denzel Washington as Hannibal sparks racial controversy: 'Historical error'

The casting of award-winning actor Denzel Washington as the legendary ancient general Hannibal Barca in an upcoming Netflix project has reportedly outraged Tunisians who argue it is racial recasting that erases their history.

Netflix touted the film in a press release, about "the Carthaginian general who famously led an army of warriors and elephants across the Alps to fight the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War." 

Hannibal’s home region of Carthage is now within Tunisia, the northernmost state in Africa and considered to be part of the Arabic world. 

According to an English translation of French-language Tunisian news outlet La Presse, the casting of a Black actor to play Hannibal is "problematic."

Award-winning actor Denzel Washington has been case as Roman-era Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca for an upcoming Netflix project. (Denzel Washington photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Byron Allen AMG/TheGRIO Awards and Hannibal statue photo by VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images)

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"To consider Hannibal as a black African would be, according to Tunisians and many observers, a historical error, because Carthage, built by the Phoenicians in the current Tunisia, it is located just 200 kilometers southwest of Sicily," the article said.

La Presse summarized ancient historian and author Mary Lefkowitz pointing out that Hannibal came from a family of Phoenician Semitic settlers, as was common in the region, and claimed that representations of Hannibal in Carthaginian plays depict him as a White Semite man.

The choice of Washington to play Hannibal "raises profound questions about afrocentrism, historical fidelity and the challenges of casting in the motion picture industry," the Tunisian outlet said.

A petition on Change.org is demanding Netflix cancel the project over Washington because "this miscasting and falsifying History is unacceptable and unethical." The petition also asked for Tunisia's Ministry of Culture to "act against this attempt of stealing our history."

Actor Denzel Washington has also played Scottish king Macbeth in "The Tragedy of Macbeth," an adaptation of the Shakespeare play Macbeth. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

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The Guardian reported that there has been some debate among Tunisians as to whether the country benefits from the film or not, including in parliament. Tunisian MP Yassine Mami confronted culture minister Hayet Ketat Guermazi about the upcoming film.

"The ministry should take a position on the subject," Mami declared. "This is about defending Tunisian identity and listening to the reactions of civil society."

Guermazi, on the other hand, said her ministry was instead focused on negotiating with Netflix to shoot some scenes of the upcoming film in Tunisia.

"It’s fiction; it’s their right. Hannibal is a historical figure, even if we’re all proud that he’s Tunisian … What could we do?" Guermazi argued. "What matters to me is that they shoot even one sequence in Tunisia and mention it. We want Tunisia to become a platform for foreign films again."

Netflix did not respond to request for comment in time for publication.

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Recasting characters in the name of adding diversity has been a major debate in recent years. 

Netflix’s recent depiction of Cleopatra as Black also faced backlash, to the point it faced a lawsuit from an Egyptian lawyer over "erasing the Egyptian identity" and a declaration from the Egyptian antiques ministry that Cleopatra had "white skin and Hellenistic characteristics."

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