Among the notable nominees for the 76th Golden Globe Awards, which will be held in LA next month— such as Bradley Cooper, Nicole Kidman and Spike Lee to name but a few— Lebanese actress and director Nadine Labaki and American-Egyptian actor Rami Malek have been announced for “Best Picture – Foreign Category” and “Best Actor in Motion Picture”, making them the only Arab nominees.
Sadly only five women have ever been nominated for a Golden Globe, and despite the many movements protesting against the huge under-representation of women (and even more so for women of colour) in film this year, the Golden Globes still somehow severely snubbed female actors and directors. The only female-directed film receiving recognition is Labaki’s Cannes Jury Prize winner Capernaum. “It’s almost too good to be true,” said the 44-year-old cult director to Variety.
Capernaum starts with a striking scene set in a court, where we see Zain, a young Syrian refugee—who like the other characters in the film isn’t actually an actor, but plays himself—making a complaint against his parents for giving him life. The politically charged film then documents Zain’s poverty-stricken life and conflicted relationship with his family living in the devastated suburbs of Beirut.
Labaki’s powerful, neo-realist and at times dramatically disturbing film will compete against acclaimed Roma by Alfonso Cuaron and Palme d’Or-winning Hirokazu Koreeda’s Shoplifters.
37-year-old Rami Malek, famed for his role in Mr.Robot, is nominated for his groundbreaking performance in the controversial Queen biopic celebrating rock legend Freddy Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, up against industry heavyweights Bradley Cooper, Willem Dafoe, Lucas Hedges and John David Washington.
