Watch Maher Abi Samra’s critically acclaimed documentary ‘Makhdoumin’ (A Maid for Each). Looking at an agency for domestic workers in Beirut, the film investigates the system of domestic labour in Lebanon which defines the worker as property.

‘Makhdoumin’ (A Maid for Each, 2016, 67 mins, Arabic with English subtitles) sheds light on the racialised commodification system of migrant workers through the agency and explores its embeddedness and reproduction of the market system. The film enters El Raed’s agency in Beirut, with the owner Zein arranging for Asian and African women to work in Lebanese households and assisting the clients in choosing “mail-order” housemaids that will best suit their needs. It highlights how advertisement, law, and police are supporting this exploitative system and its normalisation and trivialisation. The documentary was awarded the Peace Film Prize at Berlinale Film Festival and won the Best Film at Buenos Aires International Festival (BAFICI) and Best Documentary at Dubai Film Festival, amongst other awards and nominations.

This film programme is free to watch in our bookshop and reading room during our opening hours.