James Purefoy to Star in Syrian Civil War Drama for Hulu

[Ulquiorra]

Hulu is poised to explore the Syrian Civil War.

The Disney-backed streamer has handed out an eight-episode, straight-to-series order for drama Fertile Crescent, starring James Purefoy (Altered Carbon, The Following, Rome).

Fertile Crescent explores theSyrian civil war through the eyes of Antoine, a young French man, in search for his estranged, presumed-dead sister. While unraveling the mystery, Antoine joins forces with a unit of Kurdish female fighters, fierce women and ISIS’ biggest nightmare, and travels with them in ISIS occupied territory. Antoine’s journey crosses paths with adventurers and anarchists, spies and innocent victims, and provides a unique look on the tragic events in Syria, and the way they affect the entire world. Félix Moati (The French Dispatch), Mélanie Thierry (La Douleur), Souheila Yacoub, Joe Ben Ayed, James Floyd, Dean Ridge, Julia Faure, François Caron and Céline Samie round out the cast.

Maria Feldman (False Flag), Eitan Mansuri (When Heroes Fly), Amit Cohen (False Flag) and Ron Leshem (Euphoria) co-created the series, which is being written by Amit Cohen and Ron Leshem in collaboration with Xabi Molia (Commes des rois, Les conquérants). Oded Ruskin (False Flag) will direct all eight episodes. The series hails from Feldman's Masha Productions, Mansuri and Jonathan Doweck's Spiro Films, Caroline Benjo, Simon Arnal and Carole Scotta for Haut et Court TV, Christian Vesper for Fremantle is co-produced by ARTE France and Versus Production. Fremantle will distribute the series internationally.

"From the moment we read the initial scripts, we were blown away and leaped at the opportunity to jump onboard," said Hulu vp content development Jordan Helman. "We look forward to partnering with this incredibly talented team to bring this bold and provocative vision to life."

Fertile Crescent is part of Hulu's effort to provide a platform for original voices. The original series will be part of a library of original scripted content that includes The Handmaid's Tale, The Act and Harlots, among others.

"We feel fortunate to write about a world of brave women who change history, and to deal with captivating personal stories, while exploring one of the most tragic, heartbreaking events in recent decades. We are extremely excited to work on this show with such a talented, devoted and passionate team from all over the world,” said co-creators Cohen and Leshem in a joint statement.