Netflix’s latest global hit, which reached the top 10 in 33 countries in its debut week, is a crime drama set in Lebanon, starring a Syrian actor and directed by an Egyptian.
Cross-border collaboration Franklin, set in the shadowy world of financial crime, is resonating with viewers and has reached the platform’s top 10 charts in countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
Director Hussein El Menibawi, known for Egyptian dramas Jazeerat Ghamam and Souq El Kanto, says he achieved what he hoped for while working outside his homeland for the first time.
“It was something I had no expectations for, but I walked away thinking this is exactly what more of us – filmmakers, actors, screenwriters – should be doing,” he tells The National.
“These collaborations aren't just about creating something with better production values, which I believe we achieved with Franklin. It's also a chance to learn about the different methods and creative languages people use across the Arab world. And that's a really inspiring thing.”
Franklin puts the spotlight on Lebanon, with the production shot in Beirut over the course of the last year. El Menibawi is full of praise for the crew, nearly all of whom come from the city, working amid social and political unrest and the neighbouring Israel–Gaza war.
“There was no ego. No one saying: ‘I’m a star before this person.’ Everyone came in with the spirit of hungry amateurs – focused and wanting to create something good,” he says.
“If you’re working in the arts in Lebanon, you can see many people there love art and enjoy it. No matter where you are in Beirut, you’ll meet someone beautiful who’s also an artist. The Lebanese are relaxed, artistic people and it really shows in some of the forward-thinking work that’s already come from the country.”
Released this month, Franklin follows in that vein as a taut crime drama stripped of the usual spectacle. Instead of high-octane action sequences and displays of bravado, the tension unfolds in offices and workshops, driven by morally ambiguous characters.
Named after US founding father Benjamin Franklin – whose image adorns the $100 bill – the six-episode series follows the travails of Adam (Syrian actor Mohamad Al Ahmad), a gifted artist turned counterfeiter who returns to his dark craft one last time to pay off the medical debts of his ailing father.
Joining him to pull off the high-stakes scheme is his former flame Yulia (played by Australian–Lebanese actress Daniella Rahme), a jewel thief with a gift for deception.
The twists and turns of the screenplay by Cherine Khoury required both El Menibawi and Al Ahmad to do their own form of digging into who Adam is.
“We sat down and said: ‘Before calling him a father or a forger, who is Adam really?’” says the director. “We realised he’s an artist – a genius painter who ends up somewhere he doesn’t belong. That’s why when things in the series become violent he’s not really present. Because deep down, that’s not who he is.”
As for Franklin's cinematic look, with scenes seamlessly moving from gritty Beirut alleyways and clubs to lavish hotels and ballrooms, the aim was to keep it believable. “We worked on making the audience believe the story and the characters, even if the appearances weren’t conventionally beautiful,” El Menibawi explains.
“The character’s house had to feel right. The street had to look right. We wanted to be as realistic as possible. We didn’t want to lie with the image. We didn’t want to go for aesthetics just for the sake of it. When you do that, the audience might be dazzled but they don’t believe it. We went the other way. We went for truth and in the end, I think the result came out really good.”
That exacting approach, El Menibawi says, is what happens when working with Netflix. Its creative team were welcomingly hands-on throughout the shoot. “They have a very refined kind of quality control,” he says. “We weren’t just talking about the script or the actors, we were even discussing make-up tones. There was a time when their supervisor asked about the shade of red in an actress’s eyes – that level of detail.”
El Menibawi says time will tell whether the show gains enough global popularity to warrant a second season. However, the signs are promising. “Yes, there was talk about that. We discussed a season two, but we haven’t reached a decision yet,” he says. “But the feedback from countries outside the Arab world was really strong. People watched it and liked it, they really felt it. They didn’t feel it was far from them or not like them. On the contrary, they enjoyed the drama.”
Franklin is streaming now on Netflix globally
