Lebanese film director Nadine Labaki has earned her spot in the limelight this year, following the release of her third feature film titled "Capharnaüm" ... but the excitement hasn't stopped there.
Labaki's film has been selected to represent Lebanon at the 2019 Academy Awards. The film was submitted to compete under the "Best Foreign Language Film" category.
"We are incredibly honored to represent Lebanon in this year's Best Foreign Language Oscar race. This is a film from the heart - and we're very grateful for everyone who supported the film and its message," Labaki wrote in an Instagram post announcing the news.
The Oscars 2019 nominees are set to be announced in January.
In May, the film earned an epic 15-minute standing ovation following its premiere during the Cannes Film Festival.
During the festival, the film took home the Jury Prize, making Labaki the first Arab film director and only the second woman to ever claim the award.
Capharnaüm - which is Arabic for "a disorderly accumulation of objects" - tells the story of a child who is struggling to survive and sues his family "for giving him life in the first place".
In 2006, she directed and acted in her first feature film, "Caramel", which premiered at the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival the next year.
In 2010, Labaki directed and starred in her second feature film, "Where Do We Go Now?", which also premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the "Un Certain Regard" category in 2011.
However, "Capharnaüm" has certainly turned heads ... and people couldn't be more proud of the film's submission to the Oscars.
"Really proud of Nadine Labaki"
"Can't be more happy and proud"
"I hope the movie makes it to the final selection"
"Watch it, experience it, feel it"
"Keep representing Lebanon"
"YALLA"
Ziad Douieri's feature film "The Insult" became the first-ever Lebanese film in history to get an Oscar nomination
Over the years, Lebanese filmmakers have sent out a number of submissions to the Oscars but have - and not for lack of exceptional talent - seen no nominations ... until the Oscars 2018 happened.
In January, Lebanese filmmaker Ziad Douieri's feature film "The Insult" became the first-ever Lebanese film in history to get an Oscar nomination.
The film competed under the "Best Foreign Language Film Category" at the 90th Academy Awards but did not win.
The nomination came after a wave of controversy surrounded the film and its director. In September 2017, Doueiri's Lebanese and French passports were confiscated by Lebanese authorities upon arrival to the country.
The director was also ordered to attend a military tribunal "for further investigation" into his previous visit to Israel in 2012.
The court eventually cleared the filmmaker of all charges.
Doueiri had previously visited Israel using his French passport in 2012 and stayed in the territory during the filming of his feature "The Attack".
The film caused quite the stir at the time of its release and was banned from screening because it was shot in Israel, an occupying state that Lebanon officially considers an enemy.
