蜜芽传媒

Born a Muslim called Hasan al-Wazzan in the 1490s, he died a Christian called Joannes Leo Africanus in 1552. He was a 16th century historian, diplomat, author and a prolific adventurer.

Along the way he travelled the breadth of North African and the Arabian peninsula, was an ambassador for the Sultan of Fes, was captured by pirates and presented to the Pope in Rome and was even the inspiration for Shakespeare's Othello. His most startling achievement was The Description Africa - a geography of the continent that inspired generations of explorers and adventurers and remains the most widely published of all travel authors.

The film follows his footsteps from his birth in the Arabic quarter of Granada and across the sea to Morocco; through the hidden medina of Fes and onto the old pirate lair of Malta. In Mali we'll trace his journey along the river Niger to Timbuktu. There we explore the famous libraries and bring to life the rich and important cultural and intellectual heritage of this site.

By exploring Hasan al-Wazzan's life and times, we'll bring fresh understanding to the long and complex relationships between Christianity and Islam and between the West and Africa.