Flush with the triumph of her latest film at the Toronto International Film Festival, Lebanese director Nadine Labaki is the toast of the town as she sits in a Beirut cafe giving interview after interview.
The movie Where Do We Go Now? about a group of women determined to prevent the men in their village from getting involved in a religious war, won best picture at the festival’s People’s Choice Award, seen as a bellwether for Oscar success.
Previous winners of the award including The King’s Speech and Slumdog Millionaire went on to win Oscars at the Academy Awards, and should Ms Labaki’s film follow in their footsteps it would be a first for Lebanon.
“With success comes a sense of responsibility as you take on the role of spokesperson for your country,” said the 37-year-old, clearly still overwhelmed by her film’s achievement.
“When I am told ‘you make us proud’ or ‘you are the pride of our country’ I get teary-eyed,” she added. “At the same time, I don’t want to disappoint, and I certainly don’t want to misrepresent the reality in my country.”
Her first feature film Caramel, about the lives of five Lebanese women working in a Beirut beauty salon, also won critical acclaim in 2007 and thrust MsLabaki, who stars in both her movies, into the international limelight.
She wrote the script of Where Do We Go Now? in 2008 while pregnant with her first child and as Lebanon stood on the brink of sectarian warfare.
Born on the eve of Lebanon’s 15-year civil war (1975-1990), Ms Labaki says she quickly became interested in film to escape boredom.
“I lived between four walls as a little girl, with my days consisting of running down to the shelter,” she recalled. “So television offered an escape from all this.”
After earning a degree in media at Beirut’s Saint Joseph University she began producing music videos, including for such stars as Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram, and got her first major breakthrough with Caramel.
She said movie-making has become a sort of therapy for her, and she is keen on continuing to examine themes common to the region where she lives.
“I want to explore the fear of the ‘other’ and show this constant search for a better world,” she said.