Zain Alrafeea

He was born on October 10, 2004, in the Eastern Mliha, Daraa, Syria, the second son of Ali Al Rafeea and Nour Al Hoda Al Saleh. Zain has been deprived of his right to education since the Daraa clashes in 2012. That year, as the situation became unbearable for parents with four children (the eldest being eight at the time), the family packed up its life and headed to Lebanon.

In Beirut, Zain couldn’t adapt to the educational system, but instead has received inconsistent home-tutoring. Since the age of ten, he has worked in a number of temporary jobs, such as supermarket deliveries. His real passion is raising pigeons, and his dream is to open a pigeon shop.

In 2016, he was noticed among a group of kids in his Beirut neighborhood by Capharnaüm’s casting director, who immediately saw in him the soft-sharp character, with a mix of wit and heart-breaking charisma, the ‘gem’ director Nadine Labaki was looking for.

Wild Bunch Distribution