Nadine Labaki Opens Up About Her Oscars Loss On Social Media
Despite not receiving an Academy Award (yet!), the Lebanese director likes to look at the bigger picture…
The 91st Academy Awards went down on Sunday, and between Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s rendition of “Shallow” and all of the Lebanese designers we spotted on the red carpet, there was plenty to see.
It was so exciting to see Capernaum nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, written and directed by Nadine Labaki, although it unfortunately didn’t win the Oscar this time around. The win would have cemented Labaki’s place as the first-ever Arab women to ever win an Academy Award, however she was already the second Arab woman to be nominated at the ceremony at all. Instead it went to the film Roma, which brought home the first win for Mexico in the category.
As this is only the filmmakers’s fourth major movie, we anticipate seeing her at the Oscars again very soon. She hardly took being nominated for an Oscar as a lose, even if she didn’t go home with the gold, with a celebratory post on Instagram.
“Winners or not, we already won your hearts! We love you Lebanon!” she captioned the photo of her and her husband, Khaled Mouzanar. The adorable snap was taken the lead actor in the film, 14-year-old Zain Al Rafeea.
The Oscars were still a proud moment for Lebanon with stars like Elissa, Bassel Aridi, and Simone Amelia Jordan showing their support for Labaki and the film on social media:
Whatever the result tonight will be, my country had the honor to have the first Arab female Academy Award nominee and for this we are all proud @NadineLabaki. Crossing fingers for tonight #Oscars2019
— Elissa (@elissakh) February 24, 2019
@TheAcademy #Oscar2019 #BestForeignLanguageFilm #Roma
Hard luck @NadineLabaki #Capharnaum you did an amazing job we’re so proud of you, 2 lebanese movies for 2 consecutive years that’s not easy to do.. looking for next year’s #Oscarspic.twitter.com/q74wscrPKV— Bassel Aridi (@basselaridi) February 25, 2019
I haven't seen Roma, but I'm upset #Capharnaum didn't win Best Foreign Language film. Not just because of my Lebanese heritage — it was such a gut-wrenching, important movie. You're a winner in my eyes @NadineLabaki
— Simone Amelia Jordan (@SimoneAJordan) February 25, 2019
Before the ceremony, she and her husband appeared on the Oscars Twitter account, where she shared what the awards mean to her. She says, “I watch because the Oscars make me dream.”
“The #Oscars make me dream.” @NadineLabaki, director of the nominated film “Capernaum,” on why she watches. pic.twitter.com/lD9lbi6ibL
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 20, 2019