Underplayed Gems

Peace by Chocolate (2021)

Peace by Chocolate poster
Directed by
Jonathan Keijser
Genre
comedy, drama
Country
Canada
Runtime
1h 37m
Rated
12
Rating
7.1 of 10 from 16 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A Syrian refugee family starts over in a small Canadian town. They build a chocolate shop and find their place in a new community.

heartfeltgentlehopefuldown-to-earthwarminspiringsteady-paced

What happens

Peace by Chocolate is a 2021 Canadian drama film, directed, produced, edited, and co-written by Jonathan Keijser. The film is based on the true story of the Hadhads, a family from Syria who moved to Canada as refugees from the Syrian civil war, settling in Antigonish, Nova Scotia and establishing the Peace by Chocolate artisanal chocolate shop. The film stars Hatem Ali as patriarch Issam Hadhad and Ayham Abou Ammar as Tareq Hadhad. It was Ali's final film role before his death in December 2020. The cast also includes Yara Sabri as Shahnaz Hadhad, Najlaa Al Khamri as Alaa Hadhad, Mark Camacho as their Canadian immigration sponsor Frank Gallant and Laurent Pitre as an employee of the chocolate factory, as well as a brief appearance by Justin Trudeau reenacting his real-life meeting with the Hadhad family in 2016. The film premiered on June 18, 2021, at the Tribeca Film Festival, and had its Canadian premiere on July 1 at the Lavazza Drive-In Film Festival, a special edition of the Italian Contemporary Film Festival which was staged at Ontario Place. At Lavazza, it was one of two winners of the Jury Award, alongside the Hong Kong film Septet: The Story of Hong Kong. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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