Here is a harrowing investigation into modern-day servitude in Lebanon. Roser Corella’s documentary begins in a place of darkness: a black screen overlaid with an inquiring phone call placed to a domestic employment agency. Listing possible candidates according to their nationalities and pay rates, the conversation is shocking in its matter-of-fact callousness, as if the women were merely household appliances to be purchased and owned.
Lebanon’s kafala system, through which migrant labour is controlled, gives total control to employers, and domestic workers are completely unprotected by labour laws. The moment they arrive, the women have their passports taken away, which are then held by their host families; this is “advice” given by the agents themselves. Afraid of deportation, the workers endure gruelling hours, cramped living spaces, physical abuse and more, all with the hope of earning money for their families back home in countries such as Bangladesh or Ethiopia. Many hosts also routinely withhold their workers’ already meagre salaries, either to punish them or to prevent them from running away.
One troubling sequence swings back and forth between the kitchen, where a maid is working, and the living room, where Lebanese women casually discuss the pros and cons of different “types” of servants. Entrenched by legislation as well as cultural attitudes, the dehumanisation of migrant workers is so complete that the maid’s presence makes little difference to the women’s xenophobic discourse.
The practice of hiring foreign help has become so common in Lebanon that blueprints for new homes often specify a “maid’s quarter”, which usually amounts to a pitiful few square metres. Time and time again, Corella’s film lingers on high-rise apartments, whose pristine windows mask the misery of their cleaners – many of whom find escape by jumping to their death.
• Available from 3 November on True Story
