lighted bridge over water at night time

Norton Rose Fulbright presents 'Rafea: Solar Mama', the award-winning documentary, and live Q&A with film co-director Mona Eldaief

July 24, 2020
Ayşe Yüksel Mahfoud
Ayşe Yüksel Mahfoud
Posted in Environmental, social and governance (ESG) Infrastructure, mining and commodities Energy

Join us for this exciting opportunity - click here to register for on-demand access to the award winning documentary. Watch the film before July 30, and then participate in the live Q&A session with the documentary co-director, Mona Eldaief.

Live Q&A event details:

Date: Thursday, July 30, 2020
Time: 18:00-19:00 ET

Film synopsis

Rafea, a Bedouin woman living on the Jordan-Iraq border, grasps the opportunity to travel to Barefoot College in India to train for six months to become a solar engineer. She returns to her village as Jordan’s first female solar engineer with the skills to electrify her entire village, train more engineers and provide for her four daughters. In this inspiring story, the audience will learn the many obstacles facing Rafea in her new venture and whether she will inspire other women in her village to join her and change their lives and be able to re-wire traditional minds of those that try to stand in her way. (Duration: 76 minutes)

Screened at more than 100 film festivals, nominations and awards include:

  • Toronto International Film Festival 2012
  • DOC NYC – Recipient of the Audience Award and Special Jury Prize
  • Tribeca International Film Festival (Doha) 2012
  • Sundance Film Festival– Stories of Change Convening 2013

Featured speaker

Mona Eldaief co-directed Rafea: Solar Mama alongside Jehane Noujaim. Mona works as a director, director of photography and editor on documentary film and television projects around the world. She was born in Cairo, Egypt and raised in the United States. She graduated from New York University with a degree in political science and photography. Her documentary feature credits include Control Room, A Wedding In Ramallah and Her Name is Zelda. Her television credits include programs for PBS Frontline World, Discovery Networks, Travel Channel and ABC News. She also worked as a producer of MTV News Unfiltered.

Moderated by

Marissa Leigh Alcala, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright