DUBAI: The success that Lebanese director Nadine Labaki’s third film, “Capernaum,” continues to find across the world is astounding — even to her. Just one year ago, “Capernaum” won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival — a jury chaired by Cate Blanchett — after a 15-minute standing ovation. The film went on to be nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, with Labaki becoming the first woman from the Arab world to receive that honor. Now, perhaps most surprisingly, “Capernaum” has become an unexpected blockbuster in China, reportedly grossing $44 million in just over two weeks.
“It’s crazy! I can’t believe it! I really can’t. Why there? It’s all very new, so I still don’t know what it means exactly, but we’re soon going to find out,” Labaki tells Arab News in Cannes.
With its success in China, along with the US, Middle East and across Europe, “Capernaum” has reportedly become the highest grossing Arabic-language film in history.
“There’s been rumors going on for the past two to three days, and it’s like, ‘What?’ I still can’t believe it. It’s living proof that an Arab film with no actors can actually be a box office hit — can actually return money, make money for investors. You know how much we’re struggling in the Arab world to make films, find money, find funding, find investment. Especially for a Lebanese film,” Labaki says.
Labaki was in China just one month ago to show the film at the Beijing International Film Festival, and although the film got a rousing response in the room, she didn’t feel the reaction was any stronger than anywhere else the film has shown.
“Maybe it’s because there’s more than a billion people in China, but even the distributor is saying it’s working like any big blockbuster movie,” says Labaki.
The Chinese release of the film has one major difference from other cuts. The original version of the film tells the story of a young boy named Zain El Hajj (played by Zain Al-Rafeea) struggling to survive on the streets of Lebanon with the help of a young Ethiopian immigrant named Rahil and her undocumented infant son Yonas, dreaming of escaping as a refugee to Sweden. The story is not far from Al-Rafeea’s real-life situation at the time — he is a Syrian refugee. Since the film’s release, though, Al-Rafeea and his family have been relocated to Norway, something the Chinese release includes at the end of the film as a short visual report.
“The film ends on his smile, and in a way there’s (now) a continuation of real life in that story. This is really happening, it’s not made up,” says Labaki. “That’s why we’re making a documentary around the film. Maybe it’s a way of comforting people, knowing that he’s alright, he’s good, he’s in a better place. Deep down, people know this kid is going through this in his real life, they know he’s not just an actor in this film.
“I think it’s comforting to know Zain is in a different place now. He’s travelled. He was dreaming of going to Sweden the whole time, and now he’s really in Norway. He has a new life, a new beginning, a new house. He’s going to school, all his family is with him,” she continues. “It’s a complete shift of destiny. Maybe the fact the distributor added this report after the film made people understand that this is a real story and a real struggle, and not just another film.”
Though this is a huge moment for Arab film in general, Labaki doesn’t believe that the success of “Capernaum” necessarily signals a greater appetite for Arab cinema worldwide.
“I don’t think it’s about (where the film comes from). It’s about good films. It has nothing to do with the identity of the film or the country it’s coming from, really. It doesn’t mean if this film worked in China that another Arab film will work in China,” she says. “Maybe there’s going to be more hope for Lebanese cinema in the sense that investors will be less afraid to invest in Lebanese films, but it’s about the script, the filmmaker, the craft, the know-how. This is what gives confidence to somebody.”
Speaking to Arab News at the renowned Hotel Barrière Le Majestic Cannes on one of the busiest days of the film festival, Labaki is currently serving as the president of the Un Certain Regard jury, the first Arab to do so. Labaki began her relationship with Cannes in 2004, writing and developing her first feature, “Caramel,” at the Cinéfoundation Residency before showcasing the film at the Director’s Fortnight in 2007. Both of Labaki’s subsequent films — “Where do We Go Now?” in 2011 and “Capernaum” in 2018 — debuted at the festival, each in increasingly competitive categories.
“I feel like I’m their baby, in a way. With a baby you start watching their first steps, see them grow, protect them, push them… They’ve accompanied me in this journey, and recognized and encouraged me. It’s great — I really love this festival. I think it’s the best festival in the world. I like the integrity they have towards cinema. You feel that watching a film in Cannes, you know that you’re not going to watch just anything — there’s something in there for you to learn from, to be surprised by, to be in awe of. There’s always something about films that are shown in Cannes,” says Labaki.
In approaching her role as head of the jury, Labaki is focusing on connecting with the films, and taking on the perspective of myriad filmmakers from across the world.
“I don’t watch films as a filmmaker. Never,” she says. “I watch the film as a human being… I don’t like the word jury. I don’t like to judge because I’ve been there — I’m there all the time. I’ve been in those very difficult situations, very fragile situations, where you’re making a film, where you’re doubting, where you don’t know, where you don’t have enough distance with what you’re doing, and you don’t have the right answers and you’re not taking the right decisions.”
Just as her own films have become increasingly focused on the problems facing Lebanese society, Labaki believes that contemporary film cannot help but be political, and must accept its role as a commentary on the world we live in — something that she feels she’s seen in the films in her category.
“Cinema is not just about making another film; it’s about saying something about the state of the world right now. Until now, every film we’ve seen is (doing that). That doesn’t mean that cinema that is just art for art’s sake is not good — there are so many different schools — but I feel we’re becoming so much more responsible for this act,” she says. “You become an activist without even knowing you’re becoming an activist, and saying something about the state of the world. It’s important.”
INTERVIEW: Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki on heading a Cannes jury and the surprise success of 'Capernaum' in China
INTERVIEW: Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki on heading a Cannes jury and the surprise success of 'Capernaum' in China
- Labaki is currently serving as the president of the Un Certain Regard jury, the first Arab to do so
- “Capernaum” has become an unexpected blockbuster in China, reportedly grossing $44 million in just over two weeks
Saudi stars shine at Ivana Chubbuck’s Riyadh workshop
DUBAI: Saudi actresses Sumaya Rida, Adwa Bader and Mila Al-Zahrani participated in a workshop hosted by the California-based drama school Ivana Chubbuck Studio in Riyadh.
The workshop is part of the Ministry of Culture and the Film Commission’s Filmmakers Program, which runs until the end of January.
Rida, known for her breakout television roles in “Another Planet” and “Boxing Girls” as well as her big-screen appearances in “Junoon” and “Roll’em” — among the first films to premiere in the Kingdom after cinemas reopened — took to Instagram to share behind-the-scenes moments from the workshop with her colleagues.
She also shared a clip of herself with Zahrani and later posted an Instagram Story featuring both of them, captioning it, “My scene partner.”
Ivana Chubbuck, founder and director of the studio, is a US acting coach and creator of the widely adopted Chubbuck Technique, known for its role in Oscar-winning and nominated performances.
She heads the drama school in Los Angeles and conducts acting workshops worldwide.
Chubbuck has worked with renowned actors such as Charlize Theron, Brad Pitt, Sylvester Stallone, Terrence Howard, James Franco, Jake Gyllenhaal, Elisabeth Shue, Catherine Keener, Halle Berry, and Jared Leto, among others.
She is also the author of the best-selling book “The Power of the Actor,” published by Penguin Books’ Gotham division, which has been translated into 20 languages.
Chubbuck’s Riyadh workshop was also attended by Saudi actor and comedian Fahad Albutairi, who shared a carousel of images from the event on Instagram. Among the pictures was a signed note from Chubbuck that read: “Fahad, you are so talented and (I) look forward to continuing our journey together.”
The attendees received a certificate of participation after the workshop, which Albutairi also posted on his Instagram.
The Filmmakers Program collaborates with several international film universities and institutes to provide training opportunities and workshops for both amateur and professional filmmakers in the Kingdom.
Review: Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha writes against erasure, destruction
JEDDAH: “Every child in Gaza is me,” writes Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha in the creed-like opening of “Forest of Noise,” setting the tone for the poems to come and establishing his profound connection to his people and Palestine.
The poems within the slim but impactful volume by the Palestine Book Award-winning poet blend personal narratives with the broader documentation of life under Israeli occupation, siege, and bombardment in Gaza.
Released amidst one of the most turbulent periods in recent Palestinian history, Abu Toha uses the art form to not only capture personal memory, but to document Israel’s atrocities committed against Palestinians and the resilience of the people living in a continuous state of emergency.
Written in clear, simple language that often evokes visceral, painful imagery, his poetry oscillates between moments of loss, destruction, and survival, and glimpses of peace that seem fantastical in their rarity.
In “Palestinian Village,” Abu Toha imagines a peaceful scene “where a canary never tires of singing” that feels like a distant memory or a dream in stark contrast to the harrowing reality on the ground. The poem, like others in the collection, is a reminder of the cultural and natural heritage that Palestinians are fighting to preserve amid what Amnesty International, as well as some regional states, have termed a genocide.
In “On Your Knees” he powerfully uses repetition of the line “on your knees!” to document the humiliating and horrifying experience of being abducted by Israeli forces as he attempted to cross the Rafah border with his family in November 2023.
Abu Toha resists physical subjugation with poetry as a form of resistance and memory — asserting the Palestinian self and narrative and highlighting the power of art to fight back against erasure.
In “After Allen Ginsberg,” the Palestinian poet draws from the American’s iconic work “Howl,” writing:
“I saw the best brains of my generation
protruding from their slashed heads.”
By adopting Ginsberg's confrontational style, Abu Toha’s unrestrained voice laments and protests Israel's ongoing assault that has claimed the lives of thousands of children, women, and men.
The poet’s unwavering voice in “Forest of Noise” challenges readers to see Gaza not as a distant conflict but as a human tragedy that demands attention.
French Algerian actress Sofia Boutella begins year with ‘SAS Rogue Heroes’
DUBAI: French Algerian actress Sofia Boutella started the new year on a high note with the premiere of season two of the BBC series “SAS Rogue Heroes.”
“Happy New … SAS season 2 is out … and Happy New Year,” she wrote on Instagram this week, sharing on-set pictures of herself and her co-stars from the military drama, which chronicles the exploits of the British Army’s special forces unit.
Series two, created by Steven Knight (“Peaky Blinders”), picks up with British troops in the spring of 1943 during World War II.
Returning for the sequel are actors Jack O’Connell, Connor Swindells, Dominic West and Sofia Boutella, who reprises her role as French intelligence agent Eve Mansour.
Commissioned by the BBC, the show is based on Ben Macintyre’s best-selling book of the same name, with season two having been directed by Stephen Woolfenden.
Boutella most recently starred “The Killer’s Game,” which hit cinemas in September, and Netflix’s “Rebel Moon — Part 2: The Scargiver.”
In the sci-fi adventure — a sequel to last year’s “Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire” — a peaceful colony on the edge of a galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force.
Kora, played by Boutella, has assembled a small band of warriors — outsiders, insurgents, peasants and orphans of war from different worlds.
Boutella drew on her history as an immigrant. She grew up in Algeria during its civil war and later moved to France and found herself navigating the complexities of adapting to a different culture.
“Having left Algeria young, when I go back there I don’t feel like I belong to Algeria. And then, in France, I don’t feel like I belong to France because I didn’t grow up there,” she told Arab News in a previous interview.
Boutella has learned to embrace her rootlessness, though. “I feel like I belong to this planet. I have the freedom to travel wherever I want, without any limitation,” she said. “But sometimes, I miss the proximity and attachment that people have to their country.”
Kora was not Algiers-born Boutella’s first role as a sword-wielding extraterrestrial. The actress, who at the age of 10 fled to Paris with her family during the Algerian civil war, is known for her breakout performance in the Oscar-nominated film, “Star Trek Beyond,” in which she portrayed the fierce alien warrior, Jaylah.
Iran artist’s vision for culture hub enlivens rustic district
- Arabesque patterns and relief faces carved with intricate details and painted in vivid hues of greens, pinks, blues, and purples now adorn the walls
SHIRAZ, Iran: In the winding alleys of southern Iran, artist Adel Yazdi has taken it upon himself to turn his rustic old neighborhood into a cultural and tourist hub through vibrant paintings and carved relief faces.
Narenjestan, a neighborhood characterized by crumbling, uninhabited houses, is nestled in Shiraz, a southern city celebrated for its historic architecture, lush gardens, and revered poets.
“Most of the dilapidated walls in old Shiraz have no historical value,” said Yazdi, a bushy-bearded, bespectacled 40-year-old artist who has dedicated himself to revitalizing Narenjestan.
Over the years, Yazdi has turned the long-neglected neighborhood walls into a vivid visual tapestry “telling the stories of the people living here,” he said.
Arabesque patterns and relief faces carved with intricate details and painted in vivid hues of greens, pinks, blues, and purples now adorn the walls.
With its striking designs and bright colors, Yazdi’s art can be reminiscent of Surrealism. It often comes across as surprising, showcasing a different side of Iran’s artistic heritage that goes beyond the conventional focus on traditional architecture.
The artwork includes the face of Scheherazade, Yazdi said, referencing the legendary storyteller from the “One Thousand and One Nights” collection of folktales.
Yazdi’s work stands out in Shiraz, where graffiti and murals are rare, and it has become a social media sensation and a tourist attraction.
Yazdi said he drew inspiration from the Pompidou Center in Paris, a cultural hub that transformed the heart of the French capital in the 1970s. He hopes his efforts can turn Shiraz’s alleyways into a more vibrant cultural center.
At his residence, visitors are particularly drawn to what Yazdi calls “the Finger Room.”
Inside, he installed around 14,000 finger sculptures on the ceiling, all pointing downward.
“The room is inspired by the legend of an angel that counts raindrops with thousands of fingers,” he said, referring to a religious fable.
“These fingers constantly remind us that the present moment is precious and that we must seize it.”
REVIEW: ‘Squid Game’ enters a holding pattern
- Second season of the hit Netflix show feels tentative, ahead of its upcoming finale
LONDON: The success of “Squid Game” in 2021 made a second season an inevitability, rather than a mere possibility proffered by a hopeful epilogue scene. But because this smash-hit show came out of South Korea, there was also an optimistic air to its steadily approaching release — could this addictively bleak dystopian thriller sidestep a lot of the Hollywood pitfalls and deliver a second season that was at least the equal of the first?
Although it’s a sidestep of its own, the answer is… we’re not sure yet. And that’s because, although it’s billed as season two, these seven new episodes were shot back-to-back with season three (coming in 2025 and confirmed to be the last). So what you’re essentially getting here is the setup for the big finale still to come. That perhaps explains why, though the first season dropped viewers into the murderous titular competition pretty quickly, the actual ‘game’ of the second season of “Squid Game” doesn’t start until midway through the third episode. Before that, we’re reintroduced to main protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-Jae, still far and away the best thing about the show). Having won the first season’s brutal series of children’s games (for which the losers’ penalty is death), Gi-hun is spending his reward money trying to bring down the organizers of the competition, teaming up with season one detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) in an attempt to topple the shady cartel that is pressganging cash-strapped Koreans into murdering each other for money. When his plan to catch the game’s Front Man fails, he instead joins the latest intake, intent on helping the contestants escape with their lives.
It’s an odd choice to spend so long building up to the competition — and even dallying on whether it can be proved it even exists — when that’s what viewers are here for. Once the games get going, “Squid Game” is as breathless and shocking as ever, and with a new cast of characters, there are fresh backstories to mine and some pretty pointed social commentary on greed, capitalism and social care (Korean commentators have suggested that the subtitles miss a few of the nuances of the script, which may be why some of the satire seems a little on the nose). Perhaps acknowledging what audiences will remember, there’s also a few decent twists that deserve to remain a surprise.
But while season two of “Squid Game” is still great television, there’s no small amount of bloat here — and a sense of treading water for the final round still to come.
