Denzel Washington’s casting as Hannibal in Netflix film sparks race row in Tunisia

Denzel Washington’s casting as the ancient Carthaginian general Hannibal has sparked controversy in Tunisia, where the military commander was born.

It was announced last month that Washington will reunite with director Antoine Fuqua for the Netflix historical epic. Washington won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Fuqua’s 2001 crime thriller Training Day.

However, according to reports by the Tunisian news website Kapitalis, the casting news ignited a debate in the country that reached the Tunisian parliament.

On Thursday 30 November, the country’s Minister of Cultural Affairs, Hayet Guettat Guermazi, announced that her department was seeking assurances from Netflix that parts of the movie would be filmed in Tunisia.

In response, MP Yassine Mami questioned why the country had not been informed about the content of the upcoming film, including Washington’s casting. “There is a risk of falsifying history,” he reportedly stated. “We need to take position on this subject. This is about defending Tunisian identity and listening to the reactions of civil society.”

Guermazi responded by pointing out that the content of the Netflix film is beyond the government’s purview. “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?” she said. “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.”

A Change.org petition signed by over 1,400 signatories described Washington’s casting as racist. “Netflix is intending to air a documentary about Tunisian-Carthaginian Hannibal, the military genius of Carthaginian origin claiming he is non-indigenous (Tunisian, North African, Punic, Phoenician, Easterner),” the petition states. “This is a false and racist information in an attempt to support the racist Afrocentric movement.”

Hannibal was born in Carthage, near modern-day Tunis, in 247 BC. He is considered to be one of history’s greatest military leaders. He is well known for going to war against the Roman Empire in 218 BC, leading his troops and African war elephants across the Alps so that he could attack Rome from the north.

He spent spent years fighting in Europe, but never captured Rome. He was eventually forced back to north Africa.

Hannibal’s skin colour is not a matter of historical record. Historians largely agree that he was of Phoenician descent, likely with roots in the modern-day region of Lebanon and Syria, but he lived at a time when cultures mixed frequently.