
Foranestimatedpopulationof4million,Lebanonboastssome200,000foreigndomesticworkers,contractedunderasystemoffullcustodianshipthatdeprivesthemofbasicrights.Implementedsincethestartofthecivilwar(1975),thissystemisborrowedfromsimilaronesintheGulfcountries.Itispredicatedonatransactionwherebytheworkerisnotprovidingaservice,butisrathercommodifiedasaproduct,withspecialisedagenciesorganisingtheirimportunderconditionsnotunlikemodern-dayoutpostsofslavery.DirectorMaherAbiSamraplaceshiscamerainsidetheofficesoftheElRaedagencywiththefullcomplicityofitsownerZein.Diligently,unobtrusively,heobservesandprobes.Thecomponentsofthisstate-sanctionedsystemcomeundonemethodically–theemployers’entitlements,theagent’sskillatcommerceandtheobjectificationofawomansellingherlabour.Apiercing,absorbingstudyofbeingcomplacentaboutthemonstrous,Makhdouminhonesinonasinglemirrorfromthekaleidoscopiccompositionofthesocial,revealinganevenmorecomplexportraitofourreality.berlinale2016

