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IFFR Preview: Capharnaüm

12 year old Zain is suing his parents. His charge: "they have put me onto this world". A story on poverty in Beirut seen through the eyes of a child.

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Deze voorstelling maakt deel uit van Rialto Filmclub met als gastspreker deze maand Ernst-Jan Pfauth.

IFFR Preview: Capharnaüm

On Wednesday January 23 the 48th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam begins. Tradition has it that Rialto presents one of its highlights, the Lebanese Capharnaüm by Nadine Labaki.

Capharnaüm
12-year-old Zain enters the court handcuffed. This time however he is not the accused; he is already serving a five-year sentence for an act of violence. Zain is suing his parents. "Why?" the judge asks. "For giving me life," he answers. In this film written by herself, director Nadine Labaki, who previously made Caramel, depicts Zain's world.

As the eldest son of a large Beirut family Zain has to help support his siblings. It means, among other things, that he is involved in his unloving parents' shady affairs. When his younger sister is married off, he decides to run away, taking a bus to another city. Here he meets Rahil, a cleaning woman, and her one-year-old son. Things aren't getting better. Received many awards, including several at the Cannes Film Festival.