EN : The film SAND & FIRE (The impossible Dream!) tells the extraordinary story of DOMINGO BADIA, alias ALI BEY EL ABBASSI (born, 1767 Barcelona – died,1818 Damascus) and that of LADY HESTER STANHOPE, otherwise known as MELEKI, QUEEN OF PALMYRA, ( born, 1776 Kent, England – died, 1839 Djîhoun, Syria). Set between 1802 and 1818, the plot of the film has resonance for today with searing realism as it depicts a moderate peaceful Islam confronting another which is fanatical and cruel. It is a true story about a Spanish army officer, Domingo Badia, who is sent to Morocco as an explorer by Prime Minister GODOY with a false identity of one, Ali Bey, son of the Emir of Damascus (assassinated by the Turks).
