Nadine Labaki talks about reuniting with ‘Capernaum’ Discovery Zain Al Rafeea on the set of ‘The Sand Castle’

Lebanese actress and director Nadine Labaki made a breakthrough with her third feature film, which was nominated for an Oscar and won the Cannes Jury Prize. capernaum in 2018 and what will be her next directorial project is now expected

However, the star, who currently serves as a judge at the Marrakech International Film Festival, told Deadline this week that it may be a while before she gets behind the camera.

“I have to start writing the next feature film. There is nothing tangible to talk about yet,” she said.

The weight of Lebanon’s political and economic crisis since 2019, exacerbated by the pandemic, and the deadly and devastating explosion in Beirut in August 2020 made it difficult for her to focus on a personal project, she said.

“It was three very difficult years. We all lived like zombies. We’re alive, but not really, and it was hard to write anything,” she said.

“You feel schizophrenic when you write something unrelated to the situation, and at the same time it’s a big responsibility to write about the situation,” she continued.

“You have to be very careful. They speak of human suffering and a great tragedy. We have seen tragedy after tragedy. It was paralyzing. Like many Lebanese, I am in a state of shock. Beirut is slowly being rebuilt. People are trying to put the pieces together even though the financial and political situation is dire.”

Instead, Labaki returned to her first love of acting as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic eased.

She currently has three feature films in post-production: Matty Browns The SandcastleJustin Anderson Swim home and that of Tamer Ruggli Return to Alexandriain which she plays with Fanny Ardant.

“For me, it’s an opportunity to return to this wonderful world that I love with less responsibility and the opportunity to have other lives that it brings, I love that,” she said. That’s what really attracts me. It’s the human adventure and the fact that I’m living a different life for a while.”

“Life comes in phases where you have different needs to do different things. I am happy to be able to address these needs. It is a luxury. I’m in a phase where I’m doing different things and working with different directors.”

Brown’s Beirut shot The Sandcastleabout a family of four trapped on an idyllic island that hides a shocking reality, Labaki reunites with Zain Al Rafeea, the Syrian refugee she dumped inside capernaum as a young protagonist who sues his parents for giving him a life of neglect and poverty.

At the time of his casting, Al Rafeea was an illiterate 12-year-old living with his family in the slums of Beirut, forced to flee his home in the city of Daraa in southwestern Syria due to the civil war. He and his family have since been relocated to Norway.

“I can’t tell you much about the story, but I can tell you that I was reunited with Zain and his sister. I was able to spend time with them and catch up,” Labaki said.

“That was one of the main reasons I made the film, to spend time with him and to understand the man he had become. He just turned 18 in October. He grew. I also really liked director Matty Brown, I felt a human connection with him.”

“Right now, Zain wants to continue acting. He’s very disciplined, something I was worried about because it was a very different experience on set than it was back then capernaum. I am proud of him and very happy.”

Asked how it felt to potentially change Al Rafeea’s life, Labaki said it was a two-way dynamic.

“He changed my life too. Sometimes I think the universe conspired to meet. So that we can influence each other’s lives. He changed me as much as I may have changed him. It was an intended collaboration. As soon as I saw him, I felt that that connection had to happen, although at the time I didn’t know where it would lead,” said Labaki.

“He speaks fluent Norwegian. He learns to read and write. The best gift to see Zain live a better life.”