In 2019, Nadine Labaki made a breakthrough for Lebanese and Arab women when she became the second Lebanese national and the first Arab female to win the prestigious Jury Prize of the Cannes Film Festival and the first female Arab director to be nominated for an Oscar in the category for Best Foreign Language Film with her third feature, Capernaum. An actress, director, screenwriter, and activist, Labaki is a multi-hypenate who takes cinema seriously as she addresses taboo issues in her films, making her a recognized and highly acclaimed filmmaker in the Arab world.
Nadine Antoine Labaki was born on February 18, 1974 in Baabdet, Lebanon to Antoine and Antoinette Labaki. Labaki had multiple inspirations in her life which would ultimately lead her to not only creating and starring in films, but also making films that touch on religion, war, and the refugee crisis, having grown up during the Lebanese civil war.
Labaki’s family played a huge role in developing her love for film. She and her sister would spend their time watching films together while her grandfather, who owned a small movie theatre in Lebanon, inspired her with his admiration for the beauty of film.
After graduating with a degree in audiovisual arts from Beirut’s St. Joseph University, Labaki’s talent was immediately seen by the world when her final student project, “11 Rue Pasteur,” won the Best Short Film Award at the Institut du Monde Arab (Paris) in 1998 at only 24 years old.
20 years later, Labaki has made a name for herself in the film industry at an international landscape as someone who values realism and authenticity above all else as she casts nonprofessional actors to achieve the rawness of her stories. The 2018 film Capernaum is a reflection of the director’s values as it tells the story of immigrant and impoverished children in Beirut with the main protagonist being played by Zain Al Rafeea, an actual Syrian refugee. The film gained various accolades such as the Jury Prize of the Cannes Film Festival and was even nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, Best Foreign Language Film at the 2019 Critics’ Choice Awards and 2019 Golden Globe Awards. Indeed, the film deserved the 15-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.
Another notable work by Nadine Labaki is the film “Caramel” which also showed her interest and dedication to real human behavior and Lebanese culture and daily life. She spent almost a year in her pursuit of finding non-professional women who reflect the authenticity of her characters. With only a $1.5 million budget and a month of filming, Labaki’s first feature film premiered at the Cannes 2007 Film Festival and was Lebanon’s official selection in last year’s Academy Awards foreign language category.
Labaki takes inspiration from the Lebanese people in creating her beautiful films, and now she and her films inspire the Lebanese people. Nadine Labaki wants to prove that Lebanese people, despite the size of their country, are not small, not insignificant. As an artist, she not only uses film as a means of self-expression, she uses it to challenge societal notions and to depict Lebanon in its truest form.
Outside of film, Nadine Labaki continues to effect change as a High Profile Supporter for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency since 2018 and as a goodwill ambassador for the Brave Heart Fund of the Children’s Heart Center at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC).
"I don't want this film to just be a film. I want it to go beyond that. I think politics and art are not two different things anymore. They shouldn't be two different things anymore, and more and more artists should be involved in politics. I think art is the only way for politics to change its perspective or to explore alternative thinking. This is what we need — we need alternative thinking to really find solutions." — Nadine Labaki
Comments