Syrian director and actor Hatem Ali, considered by many to have been the “godfather of Syrian drama,” passed away of a heart attack in Cairo on Tuesday.
He was mourned both by pro-government and opposition figures.
Ali, 58, was also known to have been a victim of two forced displacements, once as a refugee fleeing the Golan Heights to Damascus and another time in 2011, when he become a supporter of the protests that had erupted that year.
He has won numerous awards throughout his career, and his works were widely received with critical acclaim and commercial success. But out of the tens of works he has been involved in during his career, he is best known for directing renowned historical dramas such as Salah Al-Din Al Ayyubi, The Palestinian Exodus, Omar, and a quartet about the history of Muslim Andalusia.
Since his 2011 exile, Ali has worked on many projects in Egypt, the latest of which was another historical drama ''Once Upon A Time'', which is now available on Netflix.
He had also been planning on directing another Egyptian work, a movie about Mohmad Ali Pasha, before he passed away.
Thousands of fans and tens of those who he had worked with wrote heartfelt messages mourning his death on social media.
From his place of exile in Paris, Syrian director Haitham Haqqi, with whom Hatem began his career as an actor, mourned his loss on Facebook writing: “Hatem, you broke my heart, my brother, my son, my friend and my colleague, an actor, director, and writer. What grief surrounds our suffering Syria.”
On the other hand, official Syrian regime media outlets merely briefly mention the news.
Syrian Jamal Suleiman, who had collaborated with Ali on several occasions, went to the hotel where Ali suddenly passed away to help with the paperwork needed to transfer the body from to a hospital.
His family has said that he will be buried in Damascus upon his will.
