Rabat- Morocco is one of the world’s most popular filming destinations, enticing worldwide film and television series makers with its rich cultural and natural landscape.

The first season of the eight-episode series Al-Waad (The Promise) was shot entirely in several Moroccan cities. Filming locations included Marrakech, Agadir, Ouarzazate, also known as the “Moroccan Hollywood,” and Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, which is located in the foothills on the southern slopes of the High Atlas in the Province of Ouarzazate, and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The series features stories from the Hilali epic. The epic is described by UNESCO as “, an oral poem that recounts the saga of the Bani Hilal Bedouin tribe and its migration from the Arabian Peninsula to North Africa in the tenth century. This tribe held sway over a vast territory in central North Africa for more than a century before being annihilated by Moroccan rivals.”

The Hilali epic is regarded as the Iliad of the Arabs in Arab folklore and is one of the greatest epic poems in Arabic folk culture. It is the only epic that is still performed in its integral musical form.

Several Arab actors from different countries are acting in this timeless historical epic including Mohammed Miftah from Morocco. It also features other international actors including Mohamed Al Hashim from Saudi Arabia, Shaila Sabt from Bahrain, Ibrahim Al-Zadjali from Oman, as well as Khaled Najm and Ahmed Sorour from Jordan.

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The filming of the series was not publicly announced. The production company Al-Najma Media and Cinematheque Media, along with the actors, maintained secrecy and did not disclose any details about the series on their social media platforms throughout the whole five months of filming.

Substantial resources were devoted in order to make the project comply with the highest international industry standards. The project brought together talented and high-caliber teams from all around the world, including Alessandro Chiodo as director of photography and lighting designer.

The television show will likely be broadcasted in four separate seasons, each of which will include eight episodes.