Of all the participants in the Red Sea Film Festival, only jury member Nadine Labaki can claim to have made the most successful Arab film in history.
“Capernaum,” Labaki’s third feature film after “Caramel” and “Where Do We Go Now,” became an unexpected success for the groundbreaking Lebanese director in 2018. The film received critical acclaim when it debuted at Cannes that year, winning the Jury Prize, and would go on to land an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, making Labaki the first Arab female director to be nominated in that category. But when it was later released in China, something astonishing happened and the film – about a young refugee boy living in the slums of Beirut who sues his parents for child neglect – became a phenomenon, pushing its worldwide box office to more than $68 million.
But for Labaki, having a hit film and being dragged into awards season didn’t necessarily bring her the joy she hoped for. In fact, speaking at the Variety Lounge presented by the Red Sea Film Festival, she claimed it was the opposite.
“For me, 2019 was the year where I really fulfilled all the dreams that I dreamed of as a kid. I went to the Oscars, I went to Cannes where I received the jury prize, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, the Césars, all that,” she said. “But 2019 was the hardest year of my life. Emotionally speaking, it was very hard, it was very difficult, even though it was so successful.”
The development of the film itself – a devastating exploration of the forgotten children of Lebanon’s streets – was a long and deeply moving endeavor. But amid the praise that followed its release, “Capernaum” was also criticized for exploiting both non-child actors (the lead star, Zain Al Rafeea, was himself a refugee and helped shape the story) and the suffering of the poor to generate sympathy and rewards.
“There are always many, many, many different things that come with that kind of recognition and success, and sometimes the negative reactions are hard to deal with,” Labaki acknowledged. (It should be noted that after making the film, the director and production team helped Al Rafaee and his family resettle in Norway and set up a scholarship fund for the other children involved).
Such was the emotional toll of the experience that Labaki took a step back from directing to focus on his acting, appearing in films such as the Arabic adaptation of “Perfect Strangers” and last year’s “The Sand Castle,” both of which became a hit for Netflix.
“For me, the best way was to be on a film set with less responsibility, with less stress, because I needed it,” she said. “I needed to feel like I was working, but I wasn’t ready to start working on another movie or writing another movie. Emotionally, I wasn’t ready. I needed time.”
Fortunately, for those who have been waiting seven years to see another film directed and written by Labaki, she is now ready to take the plunge again, with another project in development.
“I’m working on it, writing my next film and hopefully if everything goes well we’ll be filming next year,” she said. “But it’s going to take time, it’s not an easy project. Filming should take a little while, but if everything goes well and I’m in a good mood.”
But while Labaki’s previous three features highlighted various aspects of Lebanese society, this time, without going into detail, she said she was broadening her focus.
“I could perform in different countries… that’s what I’m aiming for.”
