SOUFRA

The inspirational story of intrepid social entrepreneur Mariam Shaar –
a refugee who has spent her entire life in the Burj El Barajneh refugee camp in Lebanon.

Director: Thomas Morgan | 2019 | Lebanon/USA | 83 mins | 12A | Documentary | Arabic with subtitles 

Q&A with Nabila Al Zaeem (Rotary Peace Fellow 2019-2020, Bradford University) ​

​Soufra follows the unlikely and wildly inspirational story of intrepid social entrepreneur Mariam Shaar – a generational refugee who has spent her entire life in the Burl El Barajneh refugee camp just south of Beirut, Lebanon. The film follows Mariam as she sets out to change her fate by launching a catering company, “Soufra,” and then expanding it into a food truck business with a diverse team of fellow refugee women who now share this camp as their home. Together, they heal the wounds of war through the unifying power of food, while taking their future into their own hands through an unrelenting belief in Mariam, and in each other. In the process, Mariam is breaking barriers, pulling together Syrian, Iraqi, Palestinian and Lebanese women to work side by side and form beautiful friendships, while running this thriving business.
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Soufra will shine a new and revealing light on people caught up in the largest refugee crisis in human history, but ultimately this film is about hope, grit, passion and the common bonds created by bringing people together around food as a bridge to overcome all barriers. Though Mariam is officially considered “stateless”, she is a beacon of hope and home for thousands upon thousands of women in the most unlikely of places. Mariam and her team will be just that for thousands more once her story is told through Soufra.

“Soufra’s lasting impression is one of empowerment ... the film deftly balances the personalities and culinary creativity with the fundamental matter of day-to-day political struggle.”
- Hollywood Reporter

“These women aren’t confined to their kitchen: They’ve turned it into an unexpected passage out of despair.”
- Village Voice

“Soufra’s lasting impression is one of empowerment ... the film deftly balances the personalities and culinary creativity with the fundamental matter of day-to-day political struggle.”

- Hollywood Reporter

“These women aren’t confined to their kitchen: They’ve turned it into an unexpected passage out of despair.”
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- Village Voice
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DIRECTOR: THOMAS MORGAN

Delicious food, an inspiring entrepreneur, a true underdog pursuing a seemingly impossible goal and learning to drive for the first time at age 42? These, I believe, are the ingredients of a great story.
In the refugee camp that Mariam Shaar calls home, more than six decades have passed as each generation waits for quality of life and the opportunity to work. Mariam could wait no longer. She found inspiration. Not in politics, or headlines, or the ongoing cease fires and negotiations, but in the simple experience that is shared across a dinner table.
Mariam assembled a group of women eager to work in a kitchen, who collectively believe they have the power to create their own destiny. When I stood in front of them and asked if they would let me into their lives to film them, they looked at me with deep uncertainty. I feared they would decide against it. But Mariam stood up and signed the release form, and one by one they each signed their name – a powerful affirmation that they were ready to be heard. That moment stayed with me throughout the two years I spent filming them, and with it a huge sense of responsibility to tell their story the best way that I could.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: SUSAN SARANDON

Susan Sarandon is an Academy Award-winning actor who has made a career of choosing diverse and challenging projects in both film and television - from her fearless portrayal in Bull Durham to her Oscar-nominated performances in Thelma and Louise, Lorenzo’s Oil, The Client and Atlantic City to her Academy Award-winning and SAG Award-winning role in Dead Man Walking.
Other film credits include the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Pretty Baby, Stepmom, The Lovely Bones, Little Women, The Witches of Eastwick and many others.
Ms. Sarandon is also an activist for many progressive and political causes. In 2006, she received the Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award. She was honoured for her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, an advocate for victims of hunger and HIV/AIDS and a spokesperson for Heifer International. She is also involved with Hope North, a charity in Uganda.

Q&A with NABILA AL ZAEEM

Nabila was born in Gaza, Palestine, where she spent all of her life in a conflict area. The Gaza Strip has been confronted with continued political unrest and conflict over the past decades. Through her work, Nabila participated in several meetings and campaigns calling to promote the access of the Palestinian people to peace. These aimed at raising the awareness of youth and children of their rights, and of international laws and agreements. 
Her particular areas of interest are advocacy, gender issues, women’s and human rights, peace-building, humanitarian issues, management and co-ordination of development programmes and MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning).