Angelina Jolie To Visit Turkey For Syrian Refugee Drama
By Arab News
US actress Angelina Jolie will soon visit Gaziantep, a province in south-central Turkey, to shoot for a TV show about a Syrian family fleeing the country’s civil war.
The Turkish TV series, “Hayat Koprusu” (Bridge of Life), will also feature Real Madrid superstar Christiano Ronaldo and Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram.
Director Eyup Dirlik said that because of the busy schedules of both Jolie and Ronaldo, shooting is an issue but “we will choose a schedule that is appropriate for both.”
Dirlik had earlier said filming will begin in the first week of April.
The show will have three seasons and will air simultaneously in Turkey, the Middle East and Latin America.
Jolie is known for her humanitarian work in the Middle East. She has been a strong ally of Syrian refugees ever since the crisis started, donating $100,000 to their relief in 2012.
“After five years (Syrian) refugees do not want to know by what percentage their lives might be made fractionally more bearable, but when they will be able to go home. They do not want to be the passive recipients of aid, they want a political solution,” she said in a press release last September.
Ronaldo has supported Syrian refugees as well. Last December, he sent a message of hope to the children of Syria, telling them that they are “true heroes.”
Ronaldo also has business interests in Turkey and previously joined Turkish Football Federation president Yildirim Demiroren for the opening of his shopping mall in Istanbul in 2011.
Meanwhile, Ajram has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2009, acting as a regional ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa.
