Nadine Labaki, an international renown filmmaker and actress, spoke about influencing others through her art, politicized cinema, and more in an interview with Hespress EN at the 19 edition of the international Marrakech film festival (FIFM).
Labaki, who paved her way through the Lebanese filmmaking industry with ‘Caramel’, doesn’t think of influencing others through art as a weight that an artist carries.
‘Camel’ is a romantic comedy centered on the daily lives of five Lebanese women living in Beirut.
“It’s more like speaking to people I’ve never met, and maybe will never meet in my life through a film, through an image, and through a scene and it’s a huge opportunity as well as a responsibility.”
The director explains how she could be thinking about something from her small bubble in Beirut yet her art could be reaching people in different places all over the world.
Through her movies, Nadine tries to be ‘as honest as possible,’ which shows in her raw representation of Lebanon in her award-winning movie ‘Capharnaum’; which was awarded by the Cannes Film festival’s Palme d’Or.
“The only way to reach people is by talking deeply to their human nature and connecting with them on a deep and honest level and not on theoretical levels,” explained the director.
In her own words, her way of doing things is by going back to her instincts as a starting point then she proceeds.
Nadine, who happens to be a writer, director, producer, and actress, said that she writes things that she’s certain she can execute.
“It comes naturally, you know your limits and I know what I can do and what’s impossible to achieve, which is when I’m writing a certain script, I don’t start dreaming of things that are impossible whether it is high budget films or unachievable things.”
Nadine said that she is not a spoiled director, she writes things that she can envision very well.
When she was directing ‘Capharnaum’, she told Hespress EN that she often asked herself how she could write such difficult scenes; to her, it felt like she was asking the universe for a miracle.
In that movie, she directed an 8 months old baby and a twelve years old child and despite how challenging it was because of the complexity of the movie, deep down Nadine knew that she was going to succeed at her job.
Nadine’s faith in her is what made the Lebanese drama ‘Capharnaum’, the story of a young boy suing his parents for neglect, a frightening depiction of a Lebanon that the world doesn’t know, amass awards and critical.
She said that the movie was a very crazy adventure.
Nadine entered the heart of Moroccans when she played in Leila Marrakchi’s ‘Rock the Casbah’, she played a spoiled Moroccan trophy wife from the city of Tangier.
Labaki has played different roles, from a hairstylist in ‘Caramel’, to a lawyer in ‘Capharnaum’ and more; she always puts twists on characters and makes them her own.
It’s important to note that Nadine who’s now a member of FIFM’s jury and Paulo Sorrentino, the president of the jury have different opinions. The actress explained that their difference of opinion is very civilized and respectful.
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