By Mary Fikry — 
“Love, forgiveness, and sacrifice are the messages intrinsic to the life of Christ. As such, they have been uniquely conveyed through the by-now famous drama The Chosen which depicts the life of Jesus on earth. Watching The Chosen is a rich, meaningful experience that stresses a wealth of values warranting profound contemplation.”
That was how Franciscan Father Boutros Danial, head of the Catholic Centre for Cinema in Cairo, described The Chosen during an event held in October 2024 to announce the launch of the historical drama in Arabic, a first in the Middle East.
The event was organized by the Evangelical media channel SAT-7, in collaboration with the Egyptian Catholic Centre for Cinema.
“The Egyptian Catholic Centre is participating in this important, historic event,” Fr Boutros explained, “in collaboration with Lighthouse Arab World, a company founded by Emad Dabbour who is also its CEO, and SAT-7 Evangelical Media Centre, headed by its Executive Director Maged Mounir.”
Well-attended
The event was attended by actor Jordan Ross, who played the role of Little James in the The Chosen; Stan Jantz, CEO of the production company Come and See that produced The Chosen; Sam Jones, its manager; Larry Landstorm, director of global partnerships; and Brad Pelo, president of the production company, and executive producer of the The Chosen.
Attending were also actors and actresses from Egypt, including Egyptians actresses Elham Shahin and Laila Elwi; directors Reda Shawky and Akram Farid; and actor Abed Anani who voiced-over as Jesus Christ. There were also Director Andrew Gamal who supervised the Arabic dubbing of The Chosen in three dialects, in addition to the Egyptian actors and actresses who dubbed the series in the Egyptian dialect.
Audiences were treated to a performance by Egyptian soprano Dalia Farid Fadel who was given an outstanding ovation for a splendid rendition.
Uniquely different
“Today we are witnessing an important event,” Fr Boutros said, “launching a drama series that has had a positive and strong impact. It presents the life of Jesus Christ in a way that is uniquely different from other works that tackled it before.
“It presents stories about Jesus Christ and the disciples in a contemporary, understandable and wholly relatable manner, focusing on details that evoke the human nature of the characters and the circumstances surrounding them,” he added.
“Art is a human message, while religion is a divine message. But art and religion connect to serve humanitarian goals,” Fr Boutros noted.
Talking of the impact The Chosen had on him, American actor Jordan Ross said that the character he played, Little James, helped him see strength in his weakness. He said he was grateful for the director and writer for understanding his personal weakness and disability, and embracing it to be part of the character he played. “For that,” he said, “I will be forever grateful.”
COVID: a miracle
Mr Pelo stunned everyone when he said that, for The Chosen, “COVID-19 was a miracle.” Hollywood, he explained, had completely shut down at the time, “which helped us complete our work. The studios were easily available, and they were cheaper too. Even crew members who were doing minor roles were all available. Most importantly, the majority of people were at home because of COVID, looking for something like The Chosen to watch.
According to Stan Jantz, CEO of Come and See Foundation, the production company behind The Chosen, the goal was to present the great story of Jesus to more than a billion people.
“Since art opens hearts, and the essence of art is ‘love’;” Mr Jantz noted, “therefore, we were keen that the production of the series be at the highest levels of ‘love’ and ‘beauty’.”
“Never saw anything like it”
“We are very interested in producing distinctive, marketable works,” Maged Mounir, head of SAT-7 TV channel, said, “especially given that SAT-7 is the first Christian channel in the Middle East, and always seeks to produce unique works. Our most recent production has been the film Perhaps God Sees Me, which won the Best Film Award at the 2024 Alexandria Film Festival.
“I would like to thank Fr Boutros and the Catholic Centre for their constant support of art and creativity,” Mr Mounir said.
He expressed his pride to collaborate with the Catholic Centre and the Lighthouse Foundation, to bring forth a unique product.
“Personally,” Mr Mounir noted, “I have never seen anything like it before. The first scene I watched was that between Jesus Christ and Nicodemus, and it was upon insistence from my wife that I see it.” He said that although he had read this passage in the Bible countless times, he only realised Nicodemus’s confusion and inability to understand Christs’s words when he saw it depicted in The Chosen. And he saw how Jesus compassionately embraced Nicodemus despite his weakness and doubts.
“The Chosen is a masterpiece rich in truth and the grace of God, this is why it moves hearts,” Mr Mounir said.
He noted that SAT-7 are very proud to stream the series in three dialects: Egyptian Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, and Levantine Arabic.
“SAT-7 is proud to be part of the unique work, The Chosen,” he said.
Invitation to Egypt
The event featured an important seminar titled “Cinema and History”, moderated by the prominent Tunisian media-figure Imed Dabbour, with participation of members of the The Chosen’s crew and one of its stars.
Mr Dabbour said that when Pope Tawadros II got to know that the American actor Jonathan Roumie who played Jesus Christ in The Chosen, is of Egyptian origin, he invited him to visit Egypt and see its monasteries. The Pope expressed a wish to personally meet Mr Roumie.
The Chosen’s crew had been graciously received by Pope Tawadros who spoke to them about art, and about Egypt and its Church. He invited them to visit the trail trodden by the Holy Family on its Biblical flight to Egypt to escape Herod the King who had wished to kill the Child Jesus.
For his part, Mr Dabbour said, Mr Roumie expressed his happiness at receiving the invitation from the Pope to visit his fatherland Egypt which he had never visited. He promised to visit at the soonest time possible, see the monasteries, and meet the Pope and pray with him, saying he could not as yet set a date since he was at present filming in Europe.
The launch of The Chosen in Arabic by the Catholic Centre for Cinema came through as a vibrant, joyful event that involved active interaction with the audience. The background music was especially inspiring. Most importantly, it was very well prepared to serve the aim of announcing the launch of the significant event: The Chosen in Arabic, for the first time in the Middle East.
The Chosen
Hardly any English-speaking Christian is today unfamiliar with the name The Chosen; viewers who watched it almost unanimously claim to have been profoundly impacted by it. Perhaps this fact emphasises all the more the significant need of presenting it in languages other than English; in the present case Middle East and standard Arabic.
The Chosen is a Christian historical drama, the first multi-season series based on the life of Jesus and those who knew him. It was first released in 2019 through various media platforms and through an online application. Artistic liberty was taken by the producers to depict the natural human sentiments and interactions of Jesus and all those who had lived and worked with him. The outcome has been deeply moving and relatable situations that, even if undetailed in the Bible, do not contradict or misrepresent anything the Bible says. But even so, some have criticised the series for taking too much artistic liberty.
Yet, millions have watched The Chosen.
According to a 2022 analysis commissioned by the show’s producers, 108 million had seen at least part of the show through the app and streaming platforms; the majority of response has been positive.
The Chosen won two GMA (Gospel Music Association) Dove Awards; two K-Love Fan Awards, annual American Christian Music Fan-Voted Awards; and one Epiphany Prize from Movieguide, an annual award ceremony for Christian entertainment held every year in Hollywood around the same time as the Academy Awards, hence gaining the dub “Christian Oscars”. — Watani International
