Nadine Labaki

The show aired during the 1970s, which continued through to the early 2000s.

At the talent show, Labaki won a prize for directing various music video productions.

Nadine Labaki (نادين لبكي Nādīn Labikī; born February 18, 1974) is a Lebanese and Canadian actress, director, and activist.

Seeking safety from the war in Lebanon, Labaki spent three years in Montreal beginning around 1989, and she obtained Canadian citizenship.

Labaki obtained a degree in audiovisual studies at Saint Joseph University in Beirut.

She began her career with Studio El Fan, a Lebanese talent show, in 1990.

She spent the first seventeen years of her life living in a war-torn environment, until 1991 when the civil war in Lebanon had ended.

Early in life, she learned the art of storytelling from her uncle, who was the family hakawati (storyteller).

Her grandfather also owned a small theatre in Lebanon where she found her love for film.

In 1997, she directed her graduation film, 11 Rue Pasteur, which won the Best Short Film Award at the Biennale of Arab Cinema at the Arab World Institute in Paris.

Labaki is unique among her fellow Lebanese and Arab Film Makers in that she was not educated or trained abroad.

In 1998, she attended a workshop in acting at the Cours Florent in Paris.

With her sister Caroline Labaki as executive producer, she went on to direct advertisements and music videos for renowned Middle Eastern singers, for which she won several awards.

Striving to project the contemporary Lebanese woman, she "created examples of Lebanese women who were very at ease in their bodies."

Labaki first came into the spotlight as an actress in the early 2000s.

In 2003, Labaki's name began to become more popular within the Arab media.

2003 was also the year when she began directing music videos for singer Nancy Ajram.

The song "Akhasmak ah" (Yes, I'll fight you) sparked controversy due to its scenes of sexually suggestive dancing.

Ajram's female character, who serves as a waitress to male customers, was seen as inappropriate and too evocative.

Labaki defended her script, stating that Ajram was actually portraying an "assertive and powerful female figure".

Labaki and Ajram worked to redefine the image of the current Arab woman as feminine, alluring and in control.

Ajram continued to collaborate with Labaki on her music videos "Ya Salam", "Lawn Ouyounak" and "Inta Eih".

The three videos were awarded with best music video honors.

In 2005, Labaki took part in the Cannes Film Festival Residence for six months.

During that time, she wrote Caramel, her first feature film.

In 2006, she directed and played one of the leading roles in Caramel, which showcases a Beirut that most people are not familiar with.

Rather than tackle political issues that have plagued Lebanon, she presents a comedy that deals with five Lebanese women in Beirut who gather at a beauty salon and deal with issues related to love, sexuality, tradition, disappointment, and everyday ups and downs.

Her filmmaking career began in 2007 after the release of her debut film, Caramel, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

She is known for demonstrating everyday aspects of Lebanese life and covering a range of political issues such as war, poverty, and feminism.

The film premiered at the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007, which was a commercial success in the summer of that same year.

It sold worldwide and collected important prizes at many festivals around the world, garnering Labaki much acclaim both as a director and actress.

It also put her on Variety's 10 Directors to Watch list at the Sundance Film Festival.

In 2008, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication gave her the Insignia of Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters.

The idea for this film first came about when Labaki was pregnant with her son in 2008.

At that time, Lebanon was at the brink of its most violent turmoil in decades.

The inter-religious conflict led to outbursts in the streets of Beirut.

In 2010, Labaki directed and starred in her second feature film, Where Do We Go Now? The film humorously tackles a delicate subject about a war-ravaged Middle Eastern village in which Muslim and Christian women try to keep their men from starting a religious war.

She is the first female Arab director to be nominated for an Oscar in the category for Best Foreign Language Film for third directorial effort, Capernaum (2018).

Labaki was born in Baabdat, Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon, to a Maronite family to Antoine and Antoinette Labaki.

Her father is an engineer while her mother is a homemaker.