‘Orphans of a Nation’: Globo presents the Rose D’Or Awards winner at the 2020 NATPE
Brazilian production touched the audience showing a beautiful love story within the current context of refugees in the world
14-01-2020
Winner of the Rose D’Or Awards in the category ‘Soaps or Telenovelas’, ‘Orphans of A Nation’ is one of Globo’s highlights at the 2020 NATPE, in Miami. Written by Thelma Guedes and Duca Rachid – winners of the International Emmy Awards for Best Telenovela with ‘Precious Pearl’ – the telenovela touched the Brazilian audience with the forbidden love story of Jamil (Renato Góes, ‘Dark Days’ and ‘Old River’) and Laila (Julia Dalavia, ‘The Other Side of Paradise’ and ‘Old River’), two Syrian refugees who had to leave their homeland and, by a twist of fate, meet in Brazil, the place where they chose to rebuild their lives and fight for their love.
On this story, the young Laila has her house bombed and escapes to a refugee camp with her parents Elias (Marco Ricca, ‘Sweet Mother’) and Missade (Ana Cecília Costa, ‘The Enchanted Tale’), and her younger brother, who was hit by the bombs and needs to undergo surgery. However, the family does not have resources to pay for his surgery. Worried about her brother, Laila accepts the proposal to marry the powerful sheik Aziz (Herson Capri, ‘Irrational Heart’ and ‘Rock Story’) in exchange for money. They get married while the boy is having surgery.
But he does not survive it and, when Laila hears the news, she escapes with her parents to Brazil. This is where Laila and Jamil’s paths cross. Godson and henchman of the sheik, Jamil is sent to Brazil to search for Laila and force her to abide by her marriage contract. But Jamil ends up falling in love with Laila and they decide to get married, awakening Aziz’s wrath. After the sheik is mysteriously murdered, his daughter Dalila (Alice Wegmann, ‘Land of the Strong’ and ‘Dangerous Liaisons’), who is in love with Jamil and was promised to marry him, proceeds with her father’s revenge plan, believing Jamil and Dalila were responsible for his death. So, she does everything she can to separate the couple.
In Brazil, the telenovela had its episodes released previously on Globo’s OTT platform. It approaches the issue of the refugee struggle as a background to create a vibrant story, having as main ingredients: empathy, cultural diversity and resilience in the name of love. The production also counted on a technical partnership with ACNUR (the UN Refugee Agency). Besides, the cast had a Syrian refugee, Kaysar Dadour, who brought a real outlook to his character.
Besides ‘Orphans of A Nation’, other titles of long and short dramaturgy are part of the catalog that Globo presents at the 2020 NAPTE. The trailers and episodes of products contained in the international catalog can be accessed at www.globo.com/screening.
Photos and other materials about the products can be accessed via the website www.globo.com/imprensa.