The film tells the story of a Syrian Hodhud family who came to Canada to live in a small village called Antigonish. The release of the Hodhud family did not happen quietly, instead under the influence of the crisis in Syria. Before obtaining a residence permit in Canada, they lived in refugee camps in Lebanon. Soon family members began looking for work. Issam’s (Hatem Ali) father dedicated himself to making chocolate because he owned a chocolate factory in Syria before it was destroyed. At first, he has a hard time finding a sponsor for his project, which he soon gets from locals, especially Frank (Mark Camacho) and his wife Zari (Katherine Kirkpatrick), who the film portrays as loving and helpful supporters. At the same time, Tariq (Ayham Abu Ammar), a medical student at Damascus University, suffers from the inability to pursue a professional career or at least complete his studies at Canadian universities due to administrative and technical factors. What decided him to work with his father to make the family business successful. The business flourished later when the family became successful in the chocolate industry and opened a successful store and factory called World of Chocolate. This success led Canadian President Justin Trudeau to glorify them as successful immigrants, telling them that they exemplified the “Canadian Dream”, an idea similar to the “American Dream”.
In the performance, Canadian Jonathan Keizer signed Kenz through his lead performers Hatem Ali, Yara Sabri and young singer and actor Aiham Abu Ammar. Although Abu Ammar is not at the level of playing as Sabri or Ali because of their vast experience, but he can do performing in front of them professionally, and this fully predicts the level of development of Syrian dramaturgy. And the performance of the Syrian school’s capabilities, even as the crisis has affected it drastically. Therefore, the film can be considered successful in terms of its main characters. The performance of the late Syrian director and actor Hatem Ali is in line with his reputation. The viewer really feels as if he is in front of that immigrant who does not speak English, but in perfection owns “life”, work and production. He was easily socialized, as he did not want to sit without a job and accept alms from anyone, even if it was the state of Canada. Yara Sabry showed the same performance, albeit with fewer scenes with her, and she retains the role of an Arab woman and mother who stands next to her family and husband and protects them in the best way she can. .
The film is worth watching because the true story sheds light on the struggle of a Syrian family in a relatively foreign society, while preserving their traditions and customs. Here it is appropriate to point out the huge losses suffered by Syrian society in the migration of the middle class from the country, while the industrial/agricultural middle class protects, establishes and shapes society.
Although the film is inspired by real events, the problem is that it does not show the whole scene. Despite their success in business, the Hoopoe family did not achieve the happy ending the film suggests. Tariq, for example, is still not admitted to the Canadian College of Medicine, although he is featured in the film as a “motivational speaker” at various conferences and universities, discussing his successful experience and the his change to the “ideal. “Immigrants. The racist tendencies that prevail in Western societies cannot be overlooked, as the film does not put them under the microscope, although this is a big and real problem for everyone coming into Western societies. In other words, this is the end of “Hollywood”, which is a beautiful picture of immigration as a “dream” and “salvation”, but it is an incomplete picture that needs to be completed in order for this immigrant to understand what he did. does not go to “paradise”, and wine and honey are not waiting for him there at all.
“World of Chocolate” by “Shaheed”
Source: Al-Akhbar
