Another two women-directed films have been selected for the foreign-language Oscar race. Indonesia has chosen Mouly Surya’s “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts” as its submission for the Academy Awards’ foreign-language category, and Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum” will represent Lebanon. Variety confirmed the news.
“Marlina the Murderer” was selected by a committee led by actress Christine Hakim (“Eat Pray Love”). The film follows a rape survivor who, after exacting revenge on her attackers, goes on a journey to find redemption. “The story is served in a Western genre platter, which gives Indonesian film, or even South East Asian film, a totally new feel,” Surya told Women and Hollywood.
The director wrote the film with Rama Adi and Garin Nugroho. Surya previously helmed features “What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love” and “Fiksi.”
“Marlina the Murderer” premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight in 2017 and was released in Indonesia last November. It opened in the U.S. earlier this year.
“Capernaum” centers on a 12-year-old boy who sues his parents for bringing him into a world of pain and suffering. It made its premiere at Cannes this year, where it picked up the Jury Prize, the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, and the Prix de la citoyenneté.
In addition to directing, Labaki wrote the film with Jihad Hojeily, Michelle Kesrouani, Georges Khabbaz, and Khaled Mouzanar. It features mostly non-professional actors.
Before “Capernaum,” Labaki directed features “Caramel” and “Where Do We Go Now?” as well as the “O Milagre” segment of anthology film “Rio, I Love You.” She’s acted in each of her features and in other projects such as “Rock the Casbah” and “Mea Culpa.”
Sony Pictures Classics will release “Capernaum” in NY and LA December 14.
Other women-directed films competing for a foreign-language Oscar nod include Rungano Nyoni’s “I Am Not a Witch,” Darya Zhuk’s “Crystal Swan,” Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s “Birds of Passage,” and Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo’s “Take It or Leave It.”
