Whether it’s ‘Rock the Casbah’ or ‘Papicha’, Netflix is now home to some of the region’s most critically acclaimed films. And they’re not stopping there. The streaming giant is also going to be premiering a series of groundbreaking Arab films, and Nadine Labaki’s new short is one of them.
As part of ‘Homemade’, which is a new Netflix series comprised of short films directed by the world’s most renowned filmmakers under lockdown, the Oscar-nominated Lebanese director and her producer husband Khaled Mouzanar were invited to create a short film, but the film’s title is still unannounced.
Labaki joins a star-studded roster of 18 filmmakers (namely Ladj Ly, the French director behind ‘Les Miserables’, and ‘Black Panther’ director Rachel Morrison,) in capturing the personal stories of lockdown around the world, offering an intimate perspective on dealing with confinement. The films are also exemplary of creative filmmaking in times of crisis, many of which are even said to take fictional turns.
For Labaki, who is the mother of two children, confinement led her to inquire about a child’s perspective of the pandemic, which she explores through the film.
“This question has been tormenting us as parents for a while: How are our children perceiving or living the confinement? What goes on in their minds?” she explained in a statement.
“When the producers of ‘Homemade’ contacted us to be part of this project, it was the perfect occasion for us to explore this dimension.”
Homemade premieres on Netflix June 30.
