Nadine Labaki

“Beirut turned into a war zone in a matter of hours. We were stuck at home, the roads were blocked.”

“It's only normal for me to work with my family because I think they are talented and because there's a warmth when I'm working. As a filmmaker, sometimes you are very fragile. You are in a very fragile situation most of the time. I think it's important to be surrounded by people you just get along with.”

“I don't like to be feared, and I can't work in conflict, I'm very bad with conflict. I try to avoid it, it paralyzes me.”

“Cinema is not only about making people dream. It's about changing things and making people think.”

“I think you owe it to yourself and you owe it to your status as an artist to be true to who you are.”

“Movements like Time's Up and #MeToo are putting the problems out there and creating conversations about the issues, and that's really how the healing process starts.”

“I have learned to do what I want without hurting anyone. I've learned how to get away with it, with everything. I'm getting away with what I'm trying to do on film but also in my own way.”

“I like to express myself fully with my body, with my language, with my voice, and through directing.”

“Self-censorship has become a part of me. I think because we live in a place where community is very important, family is very important, you feel the weight of how people look at you. Even though I might seem very modern and very liberated, I still have a lot of issues to deal with. I'm scared of how people look at me.”

“Religion is a very delicate subject in Lebanon. You have to know how to say things in a very delicate way in order to be accepted.”

“I believe everybody can make a change in the world.”

“I like to have the impression that whatever is happening is true.”

“I was lucky because I used to live right next to a video-rental store. I used to spend so much time watching films. So I've seen a lot. I used to watch 'Dynasty' and 'Dallas' and have seen every kind of film. I've been influenced by everything I've seen.”

“I've seen so many women in my family, so many mothers, that have lost children in the war in such absurd ways. I wonder how they do it. How do they keep living? How do they keep smiling?”