Popular documentary on local restaurant now streamable

The Lebanese Burger Mafia is now streamable on Paramount+. Albertan Omar Mouallem, the creator of the documentary stated he never expected the documentary to go this far.

"It's quite a surprise, this being my first feature film, I didn't expect to have this much success at this level out of the gates."

The documentary shares how 26 Burger Barons restaurants (now only 25, one in Carstairs) in Alberta came to be and the history behind them.

"It's a surprise that this little story about the Burger Barons in Alberta would find a national audience and increasingly an international audience as well."

According to Mouallem, the reason there were so many of them (Burger Barons) is because there were a lot of refugees that came to Alberta from the Lebanese civil war. They would learn the trade of how to run a Burger Baron and then go out and make their own.

One of the many Burger Barons is located in Carstairs. Mouallem did have the chance to go and talk with the owners about their business.

"What I love about it, is that it's run now by the second generation, these three siblings."

According to Mouallem, the restaurant itself is very old school, like a classic 1950s fast food joint.

The documentary has appeared in many film festivals around Canada for almost a year now. It even appeared in a few international festivals.

"Right now, it will be having its first US festival premiere in Pennsylvania, at the Northeast Pennsylvania Film Festival and hopefully there will be some more to come."

Recently the documentary played at the Silk Road International Film Festival in Ireland where it won Best Documentary.

Mouallem's next documentary that he will be releasing is called Making Kayfabe. It's a comedic documentary, this time about pro-wrestling and his attempt to learn what it's like to be an indie wrestler by becoming one, training and fighting in a match.

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