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Capernaum 15 rating

Acclaimed Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki delivers her most assured and affecting work yet, with this astonishing and heart-wrenching depiction of life in the shadows.

Drama 2018 126 mins

Director: Nadine Labaki

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Overview

In 2007, Nadine Labaki emerged as one of the Arab world’s most distinctive filmmakers with her feature debut Caramel. She next tackled sectarianism and internecine conflict in Where Do We Go Now? and now offers a moving portrait of poverty and disenfranchisement in Capernaum. It tells the story of Zain, a young boy from an impoverished family, who sues his parents for having brought him into a world of such suffering and despair. Along the way, he forges an unlikely bond with a toddler, the child of an Ethiopian maid working illegally in Lebanon. Filming on location in Beirut, Labaki draws out astonishing performances from her young leads while taking the viewer on a journey into subterranean areas of the Lebanese capital, where people exist below the poverty line and lack any legal recognition. Most importantly, Labaki humanises her characters, gradually building towards a finale that is as emotionally devastating as it is life-affirming.

Director
Nadine Labaki
Featuring
Zain Al RafeeaYordanos ShiferaBoluwatife Treasure BankoleKawsar Al Haddad
Genres
Drama
Certificate
15strong language, references to child abuse, drug misuse
Released
2018
Country
Lebanon
Language
Arabic with English subtitles