capharnaum

Just before the prizewinners were announced on Saturday night, the smart money was on either Alice Rohrwacher’s Italian magic-realist fable, “Lazzaro Felice”, or on Nadine Labaki’s “Capharnaum”, a Lebanese drama about two children struggling to survive in the slums of Beirut.

The Jury Prize — the third prize — was given to “Capharnaüm,” a story about a neglected 12-year-old boy from the Lebanese director Nadine Labaki.

The festival's jury prize was awarded to Lebanon's Nadine Labaki, one of three female filmmakers in competition, for "Capharnaum," which depicts the horrors of life for neglected and exploited children.

“Capharnaum”, a realist drama set in the slums of Beirut, follows the life of Zain, a 12-year-old boy trying in vain to prevent his younger sister being married off as she comes into puberty.

Cannes has also come under fire in recent years for the absence of female filmmakers in the running for the Palme d’Or, and there were only three women in the official competition announced on Thursday: Eva Husson, with “Girls of the Sun;” Alice Rohrwacher, with “Lazzaro Felice;” and the Lebanese director Nadine Labaki, whose “Capharnaüm” depicts the everyday life of street children and migrants in the Beirut of today.