Lebanon has selected Nadine Labaki’s latest movie Capharnaüm as its entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 91st Academy Awards!
We are not surprised because this movie won the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film’s screening was followed by a massive 15-minute standing ovation!
Nadine Labaki is the first director from the Middle East to win a Cannes competition award in 12 years! She is also the second female director to win the prize following Jane Campion for “The Piano.”
Capharnaüm follows 12-year-old Zain who lives in a slum in Lebanon. He is suing his parents for giving him life when they knew they couldn’t cover his basic necessities such as food, safety, and even a state I.D.
The politically-charged Lebanese movie is on a world tour. Wild Bunch, a European film distribution and international sales company, will distribute Capharnaüm in 60 countries.
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the North American and Latin American rights. The company distributed Labaki’s “Where Do We Go Now?” which premiered in Cannes in 2011.
The movie is going to be screened in Lebanon starting tomorrow!
“The Insult” almost won an award at the previous Oscars
Ziad Doueiri’s “The Insult” was officially nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film category for the 90th Academy Awards.
The movie shows the relationship between a Christian Lebanese and a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon. Tony (Adel Karam) and Yasser (Kamel El Basha) have a fight that leads them to a courtroom.
The film is a huge success! The screening of the movie at the Venice Film Festival was followed by a 5-minute standing ovation.
Also, it topped the box office in Lebanon and took 44% of all movie admissions during its opening week. Unfortunately, “The Insult” lost to Chile’s “A Fantastic Woman.”
We hope that “Capharnaüm” makes it to the Oscars! Fingers crossed!
