Capharnaum
After being jailed for committing a violent crime, Zain, a mistreated 12-year-old boy, sues his parents for giving him life. Zains large family live hand to mouth in a squalid apartment in Lebanon. The kids work instead of going to school. When Zains 11 year old sister is sold into marriage, he flees the family home in search of a better life.
He is taken in and lovingly cared for by an illegal Ethiopian worker, Rahil, who lives in a shanty house with her baby. But when Rahil disappears, Zain is suddenly left to fend for himself and her baby, resorting to increasingly desperate measures to survive. Director Nadine Labaki (Where Do We Go Now?) cast non-professional actors from displaced backgrounds similar to their characters, resulting in authentic and extraordinary performances.
Critic Reviews:
- " It's a very harrowing portrait… Zain Al Rafeea is amazing. "- Claudia Puig
- " Capernaum is saturated with … urgent and angry energy. " – Fletcher Powell
- " It's a stone-cold masterpiece. " – Film Companion Staff