Company. Fatma - a relative of the Mahdi. Her detention was the reason for the abduction of Staś and Nel. Film adaptations The first movie version was directed by Władysław Ślesicki in 1973. It lasts about three hours and is composed of two parts which were shown separately in theaters. Work on it started in 1971 and it was released in 1973. The movie was filmed in Egypt, Sudan and Bulgaria, with an international cast and crew. A mini-series was created at the same time. This version was shown in the U.S. on HBO in fall 1975. The 2001 version was directed by Gavin Hood in only about three months. It was filmed in South Africa, Tunisia and Namibia. The original director fell ill at the very beginning of filming and his role was taken by Hood. A mini-series was made at the same time. Follow-up stories by other authors In 1961, a Polish writer and screenwriter Marian Brandys published Śladami Stasia i Nel (Following the path of Staś and Nel) and, in 1962 a related story, Z Panem Biegankiem w Abisynii (In Abyssinia with Mister Bieganek). Władysław Ślesicki, the director of the 1973 movie released a book about making the movie, Z Tomkiem i Moniką w pustyni i w puszczy (In Desert and Wilderness with Tomek and Monika). In 1993, Wojciech Sambory (a pen name for a writing team) wrote Powrót do Afryki (A Return to Africa), as a sequel to the novel (published by Reporter-Oficyna Wydawnicza, ). The comic strip Nowe przygody Stasia i Nel (The New Adventures of Staś and Nel) from Piechur weekly magazine is another sequel to Sienkiewicz's novel. It was published online on Steampunk in 2005. In 2017, Andrew Anzur Clement published in English the Keepers of the Stone trilogy, a continuation of Staś's and Nel's story partially inspired by Sienkiewicz's original work. Other Polish children books related to Africa Alina i Czesław Centkiewiczowie - Tumbo z Przylądka Dobrej Nadziei (Tumbo from Cape of Good Hope) Kamil Giżycki - Nil - rzeka wielkiej przygody (Nile - River of Great Adventure) Kamil Giżycki - W pogoni za mwe (Chasing After mwe) Kamil Giżycki - W puszczach i sawannach Kamerunu (In Wilderness and Savannah of Cameroon) Wacław Korabiewicz - Kwaheri Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski - Życie i przygody małpki (Monkey's Life and Adventures) Barbara Rybałtowska - Szkoła pod baobabem (School Under Adansonia) Alfred Szklarski - Tomek w