Domestic work is a real market in Lebanon, segmented according to the national and ethnic origins of the workers and in which the Lebanese employer is master and the worker the property. Zein owns a domestic worker agency in Beirut. He arranges for Asian and African women to work in Lebanese households and assists his clients in choosing "mail-order" housemaids that will best suit their needs. Advertisement, justice, police are on his side. He decides to open his agency for us.
"Very cinematic... Shows in a very pragmatic, clear and elegant manner the brutality of the system, never exposing the victims... A striking film, which raises awareness of the existence of the outcasts of globalization." —DOKfest Munich Film Festival
"A new documentary jewel that will shake consciences and reveal the vibrant reality of a country like Lebanon." —Filmin Magazine
"A film that is extraordinarily elegant and brave in its simplicity. The brilliant camerawork and [editing] lead us through the film with precise consistency... depicting the complex and brutal exploitation in such a way that only towards the end we believe to have understood its entire scope." —Berlin Film Festival
"Chilling; raises questions of human dignity and morality [and reveals] the grim truth of the brutal reality that exists behind closed doors." —Al Jadid Magazine
""Recommended, especially for libraries with strengths in Middle Eastern studies. Succeeds at unfolding a dark reality of economic globalization." —Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO)
"Maher Abi Samra's disturbing documentary A MAID FOR EACH takes a cool-headed look at a Beirut agency that traffics—a charged word but a pretty accurate one—in domestic help. Watching the film feels like viewing a chilling reality through a two-way mirror... Abi Samra's artful, formalistic methodology succinctly exposes the dehumanization process." —Variety
Winner, Peace Film Prize, Berlinale Film Festival
Winner, DOK.horizonte, 2016 DOK.fest Munich Film Festival
Winner, Best Film, Buenos Aires International Festival (BAFICI)
Winner, Best Documentary, Dubai Film Festival
Official Selection, Venice Biennial Film Festival
Official Selection, MESA FilmFest Middle East Studies Association Film Festival