SYNOPSIS
A passionate baklava baker encounters a savvy ladoo maker on the streets of Brooklyn.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Sweet Refuge was initially inspired by a recently resettled 76-year-old Syrian baker I worked with in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn in 2017, who spoke to his sweets like they were old friends.
It was also sparked by my experiences growing up South Asian in the Middle East, two cultures that often live side by side, but not always together. Yet, when I moved to the US for college, I noticed how, where both Arabs and South Asians were often Othered, suddenly there was also space for us to relate. I’m particularly interested in how this translates to food and our shared longing to preserve (and reimagine) the desserts—and cultures—we left behind.