Film Profile: Lebanese documentary film ‘Makhdomeen’

CAIRO – 4 October 2017: Lebanese documentary film “Makhdomeen” [A Maid for Each] will be screened at Cimatheque on October 8 and October 10.

“Makhdomeen” is a documentary film that portrays the suffering of domestic workers in Lebanon and how the salaries are valued by the ethnic origins of the worker.

Zain owns a domestic worker agency in Beirut that arranges work for African and Asian employees in households.

He also assists his clients in choosing “mail-order” housemaids that will best suit their needs.

The film sheds light on the darkened side of the suffering of those employees, such as injustice and slavery.

It also represents a detailed social criticism of how the employers deal with the workers as products that have no rights in life.

It is directed by Maher Abi Samra and was released in 2016.

“Makhdomeen” premiered for the first time at the Berlin International Film Festival.

It is produced by Berlin International Film Festival Forum, Arsenal Organization for Film and Video, and Network of Arab Alternative Screens (NAAS).

It won the Best Peace Prize at the Berlinale Forum and Best Muhr Non-Fictional Feature Prize at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2016.

“Makhdomeen” also won Best Feature Length Film at the Latinarab Film Festival in 2016.

VIKTOR DOK.horizonte at the DOK.fest München went to “Makhdomeen” in 2016 and the Best Film Award in the Human Rights section at Bafici Mendoza.