A Lebanese film, Capernaum, directed by Nadine Labaki is about a child who sues his parents, was premiered on Thursday at Cannes. The film was made with non-professional actors and the story is on the 12-year-old boy who takes his parents to court “for giving me life” in a world full of suffering.
“I’ve been spending the past few years going to detention centers, going to prisons for minors, and it’s always the same theme that keeps coming up,” Labaki said in an interview. “Why do you bring me into this world if you’re not going to love me, if you’re not going to nurture me, if you’re going to let me suffer so much, if you’re going to leave me to fate to raise me?”
“It always comes up,” she adds. “It’s the why that breaks your heart.”
“I’ve never experienced not being able to make a film because I’m a woman. I’ve always been able to make what I want. That’s my own experience,” said Labaki. “I see that there’s a healing process happening and soon this will not be something we’re talking about. I think this is going to happen very soon.”
“It’s been a life-changing adventure,” said Labaki, whose husband Khaled Mouzanar produced the film and composed the score. “It’s about love. It’s about being loved.”
