NZ FILM SOCIETY
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • SOCIETIES
    • AUCKLAND
    • HAMILTON
    • TAURANGA
    • NEW PLYMOUTH
    • WHANGANUI
    • PALMERSTON NORTH
    • CARTERTON
    • WELLINGTON
    • NELSON
    • CANTERBURY
    • TIMARU
    • OAMARU
    • QUEENSTOWN
    • DUNEDIN
    • WESTPORT
  • 2025 SEASON
    • SWEDISH CINEMA
    • KUROSAWA
    • PECKINPAH'S WEST
    • COMEDY CORNER
    • GHOST STORIES
    • NZ FILM
    • RETRO CLASSICS
    • FRENCH CONNECTIONS
    • GERMAN CINEMA
    • WORLD CINEMA

Capharnaüm​
Capernaum

Nadine Labaki  •   Lebanon  • ​  2018
123 mins  •  HD  •   M violence, offensive language & drug references
In Arabic and Amharic, with English subtitles
​
A runaway boy sues his parents for bringing him into the world in this tale of against-the-odds resilience.

​“Nadine Labaki’s journey through the slums of Lebanon thrills with compassion and heart.”
– Time Out 
DIRECTOR: Nadine Labaki
PRODUCERS: Khaled Mouzanar, Michel Merkt
SCREENPLAY: Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily, Michelle Kesrouani, Georges Khabbaz, Khaled Mouzanar
PHOTOGRAPHY: Christopher Aoun
EDITORS: Konstantin Bock, Laure Gardette
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Hussein Baydoun
COSTUME DESIGNER: Zeina Saab Demelero
MUSIC: Khaled Mouzanar

WITH: Zain Al Rafeea (Zain), Yordanos Shiferaw (Rahil), Boluwatife Treasure Bankole (Yonas), Kawthar Al Haddad (Souad), Fadi Kamel Youssef (Selim), Cedra Izam (Sahar), Alaa Chouchnieh (Aspro), Nadine Labaki (Nadine)​

FESTIVALS: Cannes (In Competition) 2018
AWARDS: Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival 2018

REVIEW

This heartfelt drama of a runaway boy’s life on the streets of Beirut was shot with a cast of non-professional actors by Lebanese actress/director/co-writer Nadine Labaki.

“While this is unquestionably an issue film, it tackles its subject with intelligence and heart… Labaki uses a trial to structure the film, though this isn’t a courtroom drama... Admittedly the case could probably only exist in cinema: Zain (Zain Al Rafeea), already serving a five-year sentence for stabbing someone, is suing his parents… for giving him life. Approximately 12 years old (even his parents don’t know his exact age, and they never got a birth certificate), this pint-sized James Dean is a sensitive toughie simmering with righteous resentment. One glimpse at his troubled home life and it’s easy to understand why…
​

Firmly in the tradition of great guttersnipe dramas, the film pays a considerable amount of attention to milieu, foregrounding the solidarity of children as they struggle to survive in an adult-made hell... Moments of humor…offer just the right balance with the overall unforced pathos… Young Al Rafeea is a revelation as the swaggering, foul-mouthed Zain, combining the requisite traits of wounded sensitivity with seasoned resilience that somehow never feels clichéd.”

— Jay Weissberg, Variety


FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Wellington     
Monday, 15 March, 6:15pm

Queenstown     
Tuesday, 15 June, 8:15pm
​

More MIDDLE-EASTERN CINEMA >>

Film Societies of Aotearoa New Zealand

HOME
ABout
Societies
New Zealand Federation of Film Societies  |  PO Box 9544, Te Aro, Wellington, NZ  
Phone: +64 4 385 0162  |  Fax: +64 4 801 7304  |  Email: [email protected]
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • SOCIETIES
    • AUCKLAND
    • HAMILTON
    • TAURANGA
    • NEW PLYMOUTH
    • WHANGANUI
    • PALMERSTON NORTH
    • CARTERTON
    • WELLINGTON
    • NELSON
    • CANTERBURY
    • TIMARU
    • OAMARU
    • QUEENSTOWN
    • DUNEDIN
    • WESTPORT
  • 2025 SEASON
    • SWEDISH CINEMA
    • KUROSAWA
    • PECKINPAH'S WEST
    • COMEDY CORNER
    • GHOST STORIES
    • NZ FILM
    • RETRO CLASSICS
    • FRENCH CONNECTIONS
    • GERMAN CINEMA
    • WORLD CINEMA