After a 7 year break, Iraqi TV is now returning to our screens. “The Hotel,” is a twenty-episode series which depicts Baghdad’s seedy underbelly of human trafficking. The show will be aired during the Holy Month of Ramadan and will give Iraqis a homegrown series to watch for the first time in years as the country moves into one of its most stable periods this decade.
Speaking about “The Hotel,” screenwriter Hamed Al Maliki “It’s a current matter for Iraq,” he said. “It’s a message to the youth to beware of the trap of human trafficking, and it’s a message to the Iraqi state to care for the innocent and the poor who are the victims of the trade.”
The show’s director, Hassan Hosni said, “The Iraqi people are parched for drama. We were all waiting for this moment — writers, directors and actors — with total impatience,”
After moving to Saudi Arabia, locals were stunned to see Hosni back in Iraq. He said,”I felt it in the streets, when we were scouting for locations.”
The star of the show, also returned to Iraq for the first time in 20 years to film. Mahmoud Abu Al-Abbas, went into exile in 1997 after he performed a one-man play thats commentary focused on the harassment by the country’s notorious security services. Abu Al-Abbas resided in the UAE after being advised by the minister of culture to flee.