Directed by Nadine Labaki, co-written by her, Rodney El Haddad and Jihad Hojeily, Caramel premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Critically praised, it topped the box office in Lebanon, received a 15-minute standing ovation at Cannes, and was released in over forty countries. It marked a transformative moment for Lebanese cinema, nestling itself in between commercial and art-house film. There was a palpable excitement and pride in the community as everyone went to the cinema to see it for the first time.

Caramel tells the story of a city through a salon and women yearning for change, love, intimacy, each with her struggles and desires: Layale (played by Labaki herself) entangled in a relationship with a married man, Nisrine hiding that she is not a virgin from her family and future husband, Jamale struggling to accept that she is aging, Rima’s unspoken desires, the aging Rose who keeps putting her life on hold. The salon is their sanctuary where they let their guards down, confide in each other, rebel. When policeman Youssef enters the salon, he is stripped of his “outside” powers. Out of uniform for the first time, with his mustache for the last time, he walks in unable to utter a word. Anxious, he trips, completely dominated, outnumbered, out of place. In their domain, he gives in, both figuratively and literally, submitting his face to their care. He leaves the salon, transformed, happy, vulnerable, and “disarmed” from his mustache….READ MORE — MARIE-LOUISE ELIA