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LEBANON / REFUGEE ACTOR
STORY: LEBANON / REFUGEE ACTOR
TRT: 2:25
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTION: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 17 AUGUST 2018, BEIRUT, LEBANON
1. Close up, Zain standing on the balcony of his house in Beirut
2. Med shot, Zain standing on the balcony of his house in Beirut
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zain Al Rafeea, Syrian Refugee:
“I felt paralyzed, totally paralyzed, I had never witnessed a standing ovation. This was the best part.”
4. Wide shot, Zain standing on the balcony of his house in Beirut
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Nadine Labaki, Lebanese Director:
“This kid has so much to give, for me, I knew he was going to have a better destiny than the destiny he had.”
6. Various shots, Zain and his brother playing billiard in a café
7.SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zain Al Rafeea, Syrian Refugee:
“I would have loved to go to school. It’s a place of education and peace, where I can learn how to read and write.”
8. Wide shot, Zain and his family at home
9. Med shot, Zain’s father
10. Close up, Zain’s father
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Mohammed Al Rafeaa, Syrian Refugee:
“I worked in a parking lot, I also sold coffee on the street and threw people’s garbage. The hardest thing in life is when your children tell you they want bananas and you can’t even afford it.”
12. Close up, Zain’s bird
13. Med shot, Zain by the bird in his cage
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zain Al Rafeaa, Syrian Refugee Actor:
“They (the crew) gave me love, treated me like a human being. When I came home after acting I was so happy. I would rest my head on a pillow and sleep.”
15. Wide shot, family packing for Norway
16. Close up, Zain packing
18. Wide shot, packing
19. Close up, bag
20. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zain Al Rafeaa, Syrian Refugee Actor:
” I will go to school there, have a new life. A better one.”
21. Various shot, Zain looking at Cannes photos of his phone
As the award-winning film “Capharnaum” premiers in the Arab world, its leading actor, a 13-year-old Syrian refugee’s life was forever changed.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zain Al Rafeea, Syrian Refugee:
“I felt paralyzed, totally paralyzed, I had never witnessed a standing ovation. This was the best part.”
Zain Al Rafeea was chosen to play the leading role in Lebanese director Nadine Labaki’s new movie Caphernaum, a film about the plight of stateless street children. Zain made it to Cannes and the film won the jury price. With the help of UNHCR, he was resettled in August with his family in Norway.
SOUNDBITE (English) Nadine Labaki, Lebanese Director:
“This kid has so much to give, for me, I knew he was going to have a better destiny than the destiny he had.”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zain Al Rafeea, Syrian Refugee:
“I would have loved to go to school. It’s a place of education and peace, where I can learn how to read and write.”
About 1 million Syrian refugees currently live in Lebanon. More than half of them live in extreme poverty. Zain Al Rafeea was only 7 when he fled with his family to Lebanon. Life in exile has been difficult. The family struggled to make ends meet as refugees can only work in specific sectors. Zain never went to school.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Mohammed Al Rafeaa, Syrian Refugee:
“I worked in a parking lot, I also sold coffee on the street and threw people’s garbage. The hardest thing in life is when your children tell you they want bananas and you can’t even afford it.”
In the film, Zain becomes homeless and desperate, he finds love and solace among other vulnerable people he meets.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zain Al Rafeaa, Syrian Refugee Actor:
“They (the crew) gave me love, treated me like a human being. When I came home after acting I was so happy. I would rest my head on a pillow and sleep.”
With the help of UNHCR, Zain’s family was recently chosen for resettlement in Norway
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zain Al Rafeea, Syrian Refugee:” I will go to school there, have a new life. A better one.”
Zain’s movie adventure is not quite over. In the months to come, the director hopes to take him on a film tour around the world
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