Description
An unusual phenomenon in the East is taking Arab and Eastern European
homes by storm. Women, men, teens, even children are rearranging their
lives to catch the latest Turkish soap operas on their televisions.
Turkish soaps dubbed in many different languages have everyone in the
East talking about their favorite soap. Even men who deny watching, when
asked, are able to repeat word for word from the most popular shows.
Almost
a Turkish Soap Opera is a story about Adel,a young Turkish man whose
family has lived in poverty while his grand uncle controls the
inheritance money which rightfully belongs to his father. Adel travels
to the USA with his best friend Kamil, works illegally, and is deported
back to Istanbul. He flies to Canada, marries his rich grand uncle's
spoiled obnoxious granddaughter in exchange for his permanent resident
status. He becomes infatuated with his beautiful English teacher and
tries to hide this from his wife. How did his life turn into a Turkish
soap opera?
The novel paints a vivid portrayal of the lives and
struggles of young modern Muslim adults trying to make a life in the
West. The story will attract audiences of popular contemporary movies
such as the Kite Runner and the Brick Lane. A published author, Anne-Rae
Vasquez, wrote the novel, Almost a Turkish Soap Opera (to be released
in 2011), Gathering Dust – a collection of poems, and Teach Yourself
Great Web Design in a Week, published by Sams.net (a division of
Macmillan Publishing).
Almost a Turkish Soap Opera is a
directorial debut, an original screenplay and novel by Anne-Rae Vasquez.
Her love of watching Turkish soap opera series (dubbed in Arabic)
inspired her to write a story in the style of a modern day Turkish soap
opera.
The feature film screenplay was produced by Joseph
Khalil, Sababa Emporium Film Productions (http://www.sababaemporium.com)
with AR Films into an award winning feature film, short film and
series.
Season 1 of the Web series, which is a prequel to the
feature film, was launched in December 2011 as a weekly one 5 minute
episode released on their YouTube channel and has since been syndicated
on BlipTV, iTunes Video podcast, Web Series Channel, Mingle Media TV,
Open Film channel, Viki Channel, Daily Motion, Web Series Network and
more.
The interest in the film and the web series is reflected
on the Almost a Turkish Soap Opera Facebook fan page which now has over
8400 fans and their YouTube channel has over 7800 subscribers and
215,000+ views. Sababa Emporium plans to release the feature film on DVD
in the winter of 2012.
Updated information can be found at www.almostaturkishsoapopera.com .
The Story Behind This Book
"Turkish soap operas are huge in Europe and the Middle East" Turkish soap operas dubbed in Arabic and many other languages have become a hit in the Middle East and European countries since MBC (Middle East Broadcast Center) started broadcasting the shows on their satellite channels. The soap opera storylines are always full of drama and excitement with a mixture of mafia, arranged marriages, affairs, divorce, scandals all within the backdrop of modern Muslim lifestyle in Istanbul. These soaps have caught the attention of men and women, and young and old alike. Families work around their daily schedules so that they are home in time to catch the next episode of their favourite soap. Some Islamic religious leaders blame the TV soaps for injecting Western society's influence on Muslim family beliefs and traditions. But in most part, viewers find the shows entertaining and they find they can relate to them because they depict everyday life with people who have similar cultures unlike the characters in shows from mainstream American television or Hollywood blockbusters.