iN VIDEO: Remembering Burger Baron: Documentary on bizarre chain set to premiere

A rogue fast-food chain founded in rural Alberta in 1957 by immigrants from Lebanon is the focus of a crowd-funded documentary selected to make its world premiere at the 2023 Hot Docs Festival next month.

Filmmaker Omar Mouallem, an heir to the Burger Baron throne, takes a deep dive into the mystery surrounding the hamburger joints that sparked a cult following and provided an opportunity for immigrant families to prosper.

There are 25 independent Burger Baron restaurants across Alberta with one location in B.C. in Kelowna's Rutland neighbourhood.

Chain restaurants typically have a standardized menu and decor, but that’s not the case at Burger Baron, where each franchisee runs things at their own discretion.

“It’s a photocopy of a photocopy of a print of a photocopy – there’s all these variations, and I don’t know if that’s part of the charm,” according to a voiceover in a preview clip for the documentary called The Lebanese Burger Mafia.

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Writer/director Mouallem “discovers how hundreds of immigrants like his parents spread their trade secrets to uplift their communities, while paradoxically fighting one another for ownership of a company none of them created,” according to a description of the film.

The film will make it's world premiere at the Hot Docs festival on May 3.

Here are couple more teaser clips to whet your appetite ahead of the film's world premiere at the Hot Docs festival, May 3.

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