It takes courage to hope.|Oct. 06, 2018|Lebanon|126 Min.|R
Genre: Drama
Description: Zain El Hajj, a 12-year-old boy from the slums of Beirut, is serving a five-year prison sentence in Roumieh Prison for stabbing someone he calls a “son of a bitch.” Neither Zain nor his parents know his exact birthdate, as they never obtained an official birth certificate. Zain is brought before a court, having decided to take legal action against his parents, Souad and Selim. When the judge asks why he wants to sue them, Zain replies, “Because I was born.” Meanwhile, Lebanese authorities process a group of migrant workers, including a young Ethiopian woman named Rahil.
The story flashes back to the months before Zain’s arrest. He lives with his parents and cares for at least seven younger siblings, who earn money through various schemes instead of attending school. Zain uses forged prescriptions to buy tramadol pills from pharmacies. The family crushes the pills into powder, soaks them into clothes, and sells them to drug addicts in prison. Zain also works as a delivery boy for Assad, the family’s landlord and owner of a local market stall. One morning, Zain helps his 11-year-old sister Sahar hide the evidence of her first period, fearing she will be married off to Assad if her parents discover she can now become pregnant.
Zain plans to escape with Sahar and start a new life. However, his fears come true when her parents marry her off to Assad in exchange for two chickens. Angry and heartbroken, Zain runs away and takes a bus. On the bus, he meets an elderly man wearing a knock-off Spider-Man costume who calls himself “Cockroach Man.” Zain follows him to Luna Park in Ras Beirut, where he spends the rest of the day.
Cast director: Nadine Labaki
Cast actor: Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shifera, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Kawsar Al Haddad, Fadi Kamel Yousef, Cedra Izzam, Alaa Chouchnieh, Elias Khoury, Nadine Labaki, Nour el Husseini
Original name: کفرناحوم