The Lebanese director breaks another record
Nadine Labaki has made history yet again, as her film Capernaum receives an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. This makes her the first female Arab filmmaker ever to be nominated in this category.
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It has been an incredible few months for the critically-acclaimed director, who snagged several nominations and awards for her film. Back in May, Nadine won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, where her film premiered to a 15-minute standing ovation. She received a BAFTA nomination earlier last month, and was also in the running for a Golden Globe, but lost out to Netflix’s Roma.
This is the second consecutive year that a Lebanese director is among the nominees for an Academy Award. Last year, Ziad Doueiri’s The Insult was a contender for Best Foreign Language Film. Jehane Noujaim, an Egyptian director was also previously nominated in the Best Feature Documentary category for 2013’s The Square. However, will Nadine be the one to finally win an Oscar?
Capernaum follows a 12-year-old boy who resorts to stealing and begging to survive on the streets of Beirut, and proceeds to sue his parents for bringing him into a world of suffering. The majority of the film’s cast features non-professional actors, some of whom are actual street children.
The film has seen support from some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Earlier this month, none other than Oprah Winfrey tweeted her support for the film saying, “These 2 are so compelling on screen and worthy of your time. Story of a young boy who sues his parents for having children they can’t take care of. Makes you think of all the children for whom this story is a daily reality. Bravo team #Capernaum”
These 2 are so compelling on screen and worthy of your time. Story of a young boy who sues his parents for having children they can’t take care of. Makes you think of all the children for whom this story is a daily reality. Bravo team #Capernaum 👏🏽👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/J26E2vigc6
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) January 11, 2019
Another A-lister who voiced his support is Marvel Cinematic Universe villain, Josh Brolin. The actor shared on Instagram a lengthy post about the film, which he captioned, “Finally! A film reminding me why I loved films in the first place.”
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We hope Nadine goes home with a golden statue on February 25!
Media: Getty, Instagram, Twitter
