Antara is an independently financed, 5th century swords and sandals epic that is to be directed by Simon West. it tells the true story of antara ibn shaddad, a black slave who won his freedom and became a knight, and one of the most famous poets in ancient arabia. antara became an icon of arabic literature and a monument for the warrior code of ancient arabia. his poetry was sewn in gold and suspended inside the kaaba in mecca in pre-islamic arabia. if one were to study arabic literature in oxfo