The second story in the series of “The Complete Story” episodes, entitled “Untold about Beni Mazar,” reveals the circumstances of the killing of 10 victims in one of the villages of the Beni Mazar center in Minya Governorate (southern Egypt). It is a true story that occurred in 2005. The causes of this massacre, whose victims belonged to 3 families in the village, were not determined, and the incident was registered “against an unknown person.”
The series, which is being shown on the “Shahid” platform, aroused remarkable interest with the first story, “The Game of Hell,” being shown two weeks ago, starring Mohamed Farraj. The same interest was achieved with the release of the second story at midnight on Thursday, topping the “trend” in Egypt, on Friday, on the “X” and “Google” platforms.
The first scene of the story “Untold About Bani Mazar” begins with the men of the village leaving the mosque after the dawn prayer, while one of them discovers that his brother, who lives with his mother in another house, did not come as usual to perform prayers in the mosque, so he knocks on the door for a long time, then enters the house with a key with him, to find his mother and brother murdered and their bodies mutilated. With his screams, two families in the village discover that some of their members met the same fate, as they were all killed in the same horrific way, at the same time. A child died of a heart attack after seeing the bodies of his parents, causing fear and terror to prevail in the village, and the incident gained the attention of the leaders in Egypt.
The police begin their work under the leadership of Captain Akram Al-Azzazi, the assistant detective, played by the artist Ahmed Abdel Wahab, to uncover the secrets of the incident, which over time turned into a big mystery, after it was confirmed that it was not a case of revenge or honor, nor black magic or “sacrifice,” as the village people say.
While the police leadership in Cairo sends Brigadier General Hazem Fikry, whose role is played by the artist Khaled Al-Sawy, a guest of honour, who soon finds a mentally ill young man. But the captain continues his investigations despite the defendant's confession to his crime.
The series stars Murad Makram, Ahmed Abdel Hamid, Michel Milad, Safaa Al-Toukhi, and Arifa Abdel Rasoul. The script and dialogue were written by Hani Sarhan, and directed by Ahmed Nader Galal.
The producer of the episodes, director Magdy Al-Hawari, wrote on his Facebook account, noting that the series opens one of the most mysterious and exciting files, stressing that its makers do not claim to be an investigating body, nor do they issue a ruling or impose an opinion on the viewer. Rather, their role is to present and not condemn, and “to open the doors of the story to place its threads before the viewer, leaving him the right to think, judge, and question,” as he put it.
Author Hani Sarhan, who wrote several works that achieved remarkable success, including “The Choice 2” and “World Champion,” engages in this series for the first time in crime and horror drama. He says that he likes to engage in new types of dramatic writing, adding to Asharq Al-Awsat that he offers a different treatment, by addressing what has not been officially discussed in the case, especially from the people’s point of view.
He points out that the producer hired a researcher for the series, and Sarhan also conducted his own research and met figures from Minya who helped him greatly, praising his experience working with producer Magdy El Hawary and director Ahmed Nader Galal.
Egyptian art critic Nahid Salah considered that the biggest challenge in the series is not retelling the incident, but rather transforming the mystery itself into drama. She told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The first episode of the series did not deal with the crime as a police mystery only, but it presented us with a confused society trying to make an explanation for what it cannot find an explanation for, so facts juxtapose with rumours, logic with myth, and investigation with the stories that people weave. This, in my opinion, is the smartest approach to the story, because the real horror is not in the sight of the corpses, as much as it is in the idea that the truth is absent, and whenever we try to get close to it, another narrative appears.”
Meanwhile, Egyptian art critic Ahmed Saad El-Din saw that “the artistic elements in the series were at their highest level, including photography, lighting, montage, and sound effects. The performance of the heroes of the work was also characterized by honesty, and director Ahmed Nader Galal led the work more than wonderfully.”
He added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “From its first episode, it began with great shock with the killing of 10 people, and it is an exciting and attractive beginning for the audience. Here it differs from the series (Game of Hell), which dealt with the incident as it is, and caused some frustration due to its extreme darkness. But “What Was Not Told About Bani Mazar” relied on suspense, and author Hani Sarhan presented it with a good vision.
Saad El-Din pointed out that “violent crime series may affect the behavior of some viewers, especially young people who may imitate them,” noting that this contradicts the goal of the drama, which includes a suspenseful and entertaining side.
