Nadine Labaki (Arabic: نادين لبكي Nādīn Labikī; born February 18, 1974) is a Lebanese and Canadian actress, director, and activist.

[3] She is known for demonstrating everyday aspects of Lebanese life and covering a range of political issues such as war, poverty, and feminism.

[4] She is the first female Arab director to be nominated for an Oscar in the category for Best Foreign Language Film for her third directorial effort, Capernaum (2018).

[6] She spent the first seventeen years of her life living in a war-torn environment, until 1991 when the civil war in Lebanon had ended.

[8] Seeking safety from the war in Lebanon, Labaki spent three years in Montreal beginning around 1989, and she obtained Canadian citizenship.

With her sister Caroline Labaki as executive producer,[12] she went on to direct advertisements and music videos for renowned Middle Eastern singers, for which she won several awards.

The song "Akhasmak ah" (Yes, I'll fight you) sparked controversy due to its scenes of sexually suggestive dancing.

[14] Labaki and Ajram worked to redefine the image of the current Arab woman as feminine, alluring and in control.

[15] Ajram continued to collaborate with Labaki on her music videos "Ya Salam", "Lawn Ouyounak" and "Inta Eih".

It sold worldwide and collected important prizes at many festivals around the world, garnering Labaki much acclaim both as a director and actress.

The film humorously tackles a delicate subject about a war-ravaged Middle Eastern village in which Muslim and Christian women try to keep their men from starting a religious war.

[18] Preparing for motherhood, she began to ponder what extreme lengths mothers would go to to prevent their sons from obtaining arms and taking to the streets to fight.

[17] This one idea sparked the narrative of this film, in which an entire town of women begin a mission to prevent the men from brutally killing each other.

[18] In effort to heighten the reality, Labaki states that "normal people deserve to be on the big screen.

[21] Labaki wrote the screenplay along with Jihad Hojeily, Michelle Kesrouani, Georges Khabbaz and her husband, Khaled Mouzanar.

[22] For three years prior to writing, Labaki extensively researched the city's children to gather accounts of their experiences, stories and pasts.

[22] Labaki's style of cinematography uses cinematic conventions, such as illuminations, atmosphere lighting, and silence to help convey the meaning in her films.

She appears in the Moroccan production Rock The Casbah, directed by Laila Marrakchi, alongside actors Hiam Abbas and Lubna Azabal.

[31] Growing up during the Lebanese Civil War, Labaki's films are informed by her experiences of political unrest in her home country, often exploring themes of violence and trauma.

Her transnational feminism highlights ordinary women affected by complex realities deeply rooted in decades of political turmoil.

[33] She often finds men, women, and children who live in the real neighborhoods shown on screen where they re-enact scenes from their own experiences, often in some of Beirut's grittiest slums.

[5] For her film Capernaum, she gave her actors minimal direction and used hand-held cameras to capture life in the streets of Lebanon.

[33] She purposely did not want professional actors, she explained, and the spontaneity of each authenticates the plot of women supporting each other as they cope with their problems.

[33] Labaki states that she was inspired by the photo of a 3-year-old Syrian refugee whose lifeless body sparked outrage around the world.

Labaki was a candidate on the list of the new political movement Beirut Madinati for the capital's May 2016 local election.

[39] Beirut Madinati focuses on social justice and the good of the public utilizing a diverse group of citizens as representatives.

[40] Despite achieving about 40% of the popular vote, the movement lost against its opponent, the Beirutis' List supported by Saad Hariri, in all 6 out of 12 wards, but did not gain a single seat under the election's one-district first-past-the-post system.

In 2014, Labaki was the goodwill ambassador for the bilingual and multimedia campaign produced by The Brave Heart Fund (BHF).