The controversy raised by the Lebanese movie “Friends and Dearest”, which is the first Arab film produced by “Netflix”, and which was shown 3 days ago, did not stop with the participation of a large number of artists, most notably Mona Zaki, Nadine Labaki, George Khabbaz and Adel Karam.
Where the work taken from the Italian movie “Perfect Stranger” caused a major crisis and widespread controversy, and criticism and a great attack by the audience, because of its audacity, scenes and ideas, which some described as shocking.
The matter prompted some artists to express their opinions comfortably, even if their opinions would expose them to criticism and attack, and perhaps the most prominent of them is the Egyptian artist Ilham Shaheen.
who expressed her opinion through her official account on “Instagram”, and defended the film and considered it a beautiful film that deals with life with its usual problems, and considered that the characters in the film are ordinary people who exist.
She also stressed that the Arab community has many calamities, which are much more than what appeared in the film, and therefore she does not understand the reason for the fabricated uproar over the film, which is located on a digital platform that does not exist for ordinary or conservative people, especially since the content of that platform does not suit them in the first place.
Ilham Shaheen directed her speech to those she described as “retarded with the awareness of clean cinema”, to assure them that the work does not contain any shocking scenes as an image, but only the audacity in dialogue.
And she sent her message to Mona Zaki, saying, “Bravo Mona Zaki .. an honest mature artist .. a wonderful performance,” considering that the film is a representative match between everyone, and Ilham Shaheen did not finish her words until she, too, became the target of attack by the followers.
On the other hand, the Lebanese singer Elissa sent a message of support to her friend Mona Zaki, after she tweeted to salute and appreciate all the participants in the film, especially the able Mona Zaki, who spoke about her saying, “She is subjected to the worst campaign…all love.”
Elissa criticized the attack facing the film, considering that Arab films in the past had a bold content, and therefore it must be accepted for the sake of progress, and in the end, those who do not want to watch it should not watch it, but she loved it very much.
For her part, the Egyptian artist, Sawsan Badr, decided to send a message of support to Mona Zaki, where she published her picture on “Instagram”, and assured her that she had made a beautiful artistic history with her true talent and belief in herself and her art.
