User:ReaderofthePack/The Lady of Heaven

The Lady of Heaven is an upcoming epic historical drama directed by Eli King. Produced by Enlightened Kingdom, the film bills itself as the first movie to depict the face of Muhammad and the event of Fatemeh's house. Due to this, the film has been considered haram by some Shiite religious leaders.

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

Cast

 * Denise Black as Bibi
 * Ray Fearon
 * Mark Anthony Brighton
 * Chris Jarman as Bilal
 * Albane Courtois as Fatima Lanrawi
 * Oscar Garland as Raed
 * Andrew Harrison
 * Sami Karim as Khalid
 * Lucas Bond as Jamal
 * Christopher Sciueref

Development and marketing
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. The majority of filming took place in Vaziani. 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.

Per Twelver Shia Muslim cleric Yasser Al-Habib, in order to respect aniconism in Islam, all holy figures were portrayed by light and cinematic effects as opposed to being portrayed by an actor or single individual.

Marketing
A trailer for the film was released in December 2020. An attempt was made by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block the trailer on social media platforms.

Release
The Lady of Heaven was initially intended to be released on December 30, 2020, but was delayed due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film currently does not have a confirmed release date.

Pre-release reception
Prior to its release the film has received criticism from the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Shamkhani, as well as Shiite religious leaders such as Makarem Shirazi, Nouri Hamedani, Safi Golpayegani and Jafar Sobhani, who believe that The Lady of Heaven is an attempt to create divisions and differences between Islamic cult and have Haram its viewing and publication. Far News Iran 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."

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."