Caramel by Nadine Labak/ Lebanon/France/ 2007/ 95 min./ 35 mm.

In Beirut, five women meet regularly in a beauty salon, a colorful and
sensual microcosm of the city where several generations mix, talk and
confide in each other. In the salon, the women's intimate and liberated
conversations revolve around men, sex and motherhood, in between
haircuts and sugar waxing with caramel. Nisrine (Yasmine Al Masri) is a
spirited bombshell on the verge of marrying a conservative Muslim even
though she is no longer a virgin. Jamale (Gisele Aouad), an aging actress and divorced mother of two, goes to absurd lengths to hold back time. Rima (Joanna Moukarzel) suppresses her attraction to women, until her own dream girl walks through the door. Seamstress Rose (Siham Haddad) deflects the attentions of a gentleman suitor to care for her older sister. And Layale (played by the stunning Labaki), the owner and lifeblood of the salon, carries on a hopeless affair with a married man. When her lover beeps his car horn outside the shop, the other women roll their eyes, but they let her go.

Born in Lebanon in 1974, Nadine Labaki studied media at Saint-Joseph University in Beirut. Her school film project was awarded in Paris in 1998. She went on to directing commercials and musical clips for well known Middle-Eastern artists. In 2004, she attended the Résidence du Festival de Cannes to write Caramel.

Co-sponsored by Roadside Attractions and MEMEAC

Last updated: 2008-01-14 02:38:23