The Lady of Heaven

The Lady of Heaven is a 2021 British epic historical drama film directed by Eli King and written by Yasser Al-Habib. Produced by Enlightened Kingdom, the film bills itself as the first movie on the life of the historical figure, Fatima, during and after the era of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In addition to the Islamic story of 7th century, the film also deals with ISIS in the 21st century and the origin of Islamic terrorism.

The Lady of Heaven
Film poster
Directed byEli King
Written bySheikh Al-Habib
Produced by
  • Matthew Kuipers
  • Richard Rionda Del Castro
Starring
CinematographyMike Brewster
Edited bySteve Mercer
Music byCraig Pruess (score by)
Production
companies
Enlightened Kingdom
Hannibal Media
Release date
  • December 10, 2021 (2021-12-10)
Running time
141 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million

Plot

Laith, an Iraqi child in the middle of a war-torn country after losing his mother, has found himself a new home with an elderly woman who tells him the story of Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad.

Cast

Production

The film has cost about $ 15 million and has been funded by the network's audience for 6 years through advertising on the Fadak satellite network.[1][2]

Development

Filming for The Lady of Heaven began in August 2019 and continued through October of the same year in the cities of Tbilisi, Rustavi, and Vaziani.[3] The majority of filming took place in Vaziani and John Stephenson was brought on as a creative consultant.[4] Further filming also took place in London the following months. It took the production team over 2 months to build the sets for Mecca and Medina as imagined in 622 AD. Actors Denise Black, Ray Fearon, and Lucas Bond were brought on to act in the film and Chris Jarman was confirmed as portraying Bilal ibn Rabah, one of the companions of Muhammad.[5] In March 2021, LA based sales agent Hannibal Media acquired worldwide rights to the film.[6]

Per Twelver Shia Muslim cleric Yasser Al-Habib, in order to respect aniconism in Islam,[7] all holy figures were portrayed by light and cinematic effects as opposed to being portrayed by an actor or single individual.[8] In an interview with Deadline Hollywood the producers discussed how they tackled the very challenging aspect of depicting a Muslim holy personality.[9]

Marketing

Marketing for the film has promoted The Lady of Heaven as the first ever cinematic production on the life of Fatima, during and after the era of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. A trailer for the film was released in December 2020.[10] An attempt was made by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block the trailer on social media platforms.[11]

Release

The Lady of Heaven was set for a 2020 release, but like many productions, it was delayed due to uncertainties in the industry related to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the 25th of October 2021, it was announced that the movie will be premiering in the United States on December 10, 2021.[12]

Reception

Pre-release reception

Fars News Agency has questioned the intent of the film, noting that "A number of renowned Islamic scholars have criticized the film for poor background research and inflammatory content."[13]

Ali Shamkhani also questioned the purpose of the film in his twitter.[14]

The Iranian government banned the film from being shown in the country, calling it aimed at dividing Muslims.[15]

While Islamic scholar Yasser Al-Habib has voiced his support for the movie, stating that:

"This film conveys a message of love and peace. It is a call to a better mindset when dealing with challenges. I am certain that should humanity follow in the steps of The Lady; peace, justice, and equality will prevail and triumph. I pray for this to happen."[8]

Additionally, Malik Shlibak, one of the executive producers on the film responded by stating:

"One of the most important things to mention is that we put an extremely large amount of time and effort into making sure that the film is historically correct, so everything is backed up by historical texts. Then you come to the interpretation of those texts where the healthy conversations and differences that people can have."[16]

The Mahdi Servants Union says:

We are very confident that those who strive to obscure the truth about the injustices and crimes that Zahra, peace be upon her, was subjected to in order to sympathize with the dissenters and take into account their feelings will only achieve the disgrace of this world and the hereafter. In a humiliating historical scene![17]

In the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, the film's producers where interviewed by Deadline Hollywood's co-Editor-in-Chief, Mike Fleming Jr, in a panel discussion on International Storytelling in Modern Cinema. The producers spoke of bringing Lady Fatima's story to life and the challenges the team faced with depicting religious history.[18] The film received an award for Best Visual Effects at the iSuccess International Awards gala in an event hosted by Superfilm Studios in co-production with Forbes France.[19][20]

See also
  •  Film portal
  •  Islam portal

References
  1. "إحتفالات تاريخية کبرى بعد نجاح حملة فيلم يوم العذاب - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  2. "فعلوها خدّام ‌المهدي عليه السلام.. نجاح حملة لبيك فاطمة بفترة قياسية للمرة الثانية!". القطرة - موقع رؤی ومحاضرات الشيخ الحبيب (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  3. "Shooting of episodes for British Film to take place in Tbilisi and Rustavi". 1TV. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  4. "რუსთავში ბრიტანელები ფილმს იღებენ". inforustavi.ge. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  5. D'Alessandro, Anthony (2020-06-29). "Enlightened Kingdom Sets 'Lady Of Heaven'; Feature About Lady Fatima, Daughter Of Muhammad – Cannes". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  6. Grater, Tom (2021-03-01). "First Look At $15M Historical Drama 'The Lady Of Heaven' – EFM". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  7. Soltane, Amira (2020-12-27). "Un film sur Fatima, la fille du prophète (Qsssl) relance la problématique de la représentation à l'écran". L'Expression (in French). Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  8. Al-Habib, Yasser. "The Lady of Heaven". Alhabib.org. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  9. Blyth, Antonia (2021-07-14). "How 'The Lady Of Heaven' Producers Tackled The "Very Challenging" Aspect Of Depicting A Muslim Holy Person – Cannes Studio". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  10. "'The Lady Of Heaven' Movie Trailer sparks support from around the world (press release)". KTVN. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  11. "PTA wants Lady of Heaven trailer blocked". Samaa TV. January 3, 2021.
  12. "The Lady of Heaven". AMC Theatres. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  13. "FarsNews Agency Iran Criticizes Lady of Heaven Movie as "Divisive"". FarsNews Agency Iran. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  14. "واکنش شمخانی به ساخت فیلم بانوی بهشت". مشرق نیوز (in Persian). 2020-12-27. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  15. "پخش «بانوی بهشت» در رسانه های ایران ممنوع شد". ایسنا (in Persian). 2020-12-29. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  16. "Millionen von Zuschauern warten der Dame des Himmels". NWZ Online. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  17. "The Mahdi Servants Union (MSU) - إتحاد خدام المهدي عليه السلام". The Mahdi Servants Union (MSU) - إتحاد خدام المهدي عليه السلام (in Arabic). Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  18. "'The Lady Of Heaven' Team Talk Bringing Lady Fatima's Story To Life & The Challenges Of Depicting Religious History – Cannes". Deadline Hollywood. June 12, 2021. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
  19. "The I Success Awards Gala is a Success at Cannes". Feast Magazine. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  20. "The Lady of Heaven, filmul care te va face să înțelegi mai bine Islamul. „Povestea nu s-a mai spus până acum"". Pro TV. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
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