It’s the year 2021, the Arabic drama finally welcomes its first cast with people of special needs with open arms. Titled “Case 404”, here is everything you need to know about it: The series is directed by Muhammad Al-Ansari, while the screenplay and dialogue by Ramez Abbas, and for the dramatic treatment: Mahmoud Abu Bakr.
Most of the show’s cast are participating in a creative project for the first time. Thanks to the “Parallel World” initiative, that was launched two years ago; in the hopes of integrating people with special needs into society, especially in the fields of social media and arts like: programs, movies, series, etc. This series depicts real stories of the suffering of patients with Down Syndrome and all the societal imbalance that they have to go through.
With the cast’s determination and great will to create something valuable, it was announced during an interview with Good Morning Egypt television program that Case 404 (Al-Qadeya 404), will screen online in Ramadan 2021, it will more likely screen on the online platform Netflix.
Director Muhammad Ali Al-Ansari reveals that he is the general coordinator of the “Parallel World” initiative, he also said that after the huge success of the video clip “All of us and you,” with the performance of the girl, who is the shining star of “The Voice Kids”, the concept of filming a drama series came to life. It was stated that the number of artists participating in the series are 50 in total, including those with special needs who are 20 characters on the show.
Moreover, there were different roles in Case 404 where some actors got really dramatic roles while others managed to appear with their realistic stories, which were very astonishing stories to the rest of the cast who were surprise by the amount of discrimination and suffering those with special needs had to experience, compared to the pure talent they possess.
Furthermore, the show mixes real life stories with other fictional issues, which makes the story go like two parallel worlds, with only the narration of Maryam Wajih, who is the heroine of “Case 404” and the first student with Down Syndrome at the College of Fine Arts, linking between the two worlds. Maryam expressed how happy she was with her experience in both acting and painting. She also stated that many people with Down Syndrome have talents and artistic abilities that deserve to be discovered and shed light on in the society and not only by fellow talented individuals.
According to the National Research Center of Egypt’s Department of Human Genetics and Genomic Research, “the birth rate of people with Down syndrome in Egypt is one out of every 600 people”. As a result of this number, the challenges faced by Down syndrome patients have risen, however, the political leadership, as well as many civil society organizations, are very interested in improving the conditions of these individuals, which promises a brighter future full of more opportunities to all people with special needs.
By: Nouran Hassan
