CAPHARNAÜM

“Capharnaüm” (Lebanon, 2018) by Nadine Labaki begins in a courtroom: Zain, a boy of about twelve, is suing his parents for having brought him into the world. From there the film tells how it came to this. Zain lives with many siblings in a slum in Beirut, without papers, without schooling. When his parents marry off his eleven-year-old sister Sahar to the local shopkeeper, he runs away. He finds shelter with Rahil, an Ethiopian migrant without a residence permit, and looks after her small son Yonas. When Rahil fails to return one day, Zain has to fend for himself and the baby alone through the city.

Labaki worked almost exclusively with non-professional actors who come from the circumstances the film depicts; the lead role is played by the Syrian refugee boy Zain Al Rafeea. The film screened in competition at Cannes in 2018 and received the Jury Prize there. It was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2018.

Shown at the 2018 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2018 · Film Archive