From Syrian refugee to Oscar nominee, ‘Capernaum’ star gets second chance at childhood in Norway

In 2016, Zain al-Rafeea was an impoverished delivery boy, one of the thousands of Syrian refugees living in the crowded outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon. Having never gone to school, he could not write his name.

Today, the 14-year-old is the star of the Oscar-nominated film “Capernaum” — an opus on disenfranchisement and poverty by Lebanese director Nadine Labaki. The film’s name, which references a biblical village, has come to mean “chaos,” but it also carried the connotation of miracles — both of which have appeared in Zain's life.

Perhaps the greatest miracle in Zain's story: he and his family were resettled in Norway six months ago. He and his three siblings are now going to school for the first time in his life.