Ramadan is usually the peak season for Arab TV series, but Egyptian TV series are getting more interest than usual this year. One of this season’s hits is the second series of ‘The Choice’, (‘Al-Ikhtiar’), which has stirred a lot of controversy since its release.
The series deals with one of the most horrific and polarizing moments in recent Egyptian history: the 14 August 2013 massacres at Rab’a and Al-Nahda squares in Cairo, where long term sit-ins were violently crushed by Egyptian security forces, killing at least 800 people according to Human Rights Watch.
‘The Choice’ is produced by leading Egyptian production house Synergy, a company reported to have links to the regime. The show appears to adopt much of the regime’s narrative of events since 2013, including on the ousting of the late elected Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, and the raids on the Rab’a and Al-Nahda sit-ins.
