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Gwe 30 Mai — Iau 5 Mehefin

France/Lebanon/2007/95 mins/subtitled/PG. Dir: Nadine Labaki. With Yasmine Al Masri, Joanna Moukarzel, Nadine Labaki.

This comedy-drama about five women working in a Lebanese beauty salon is, as the film’s title suggests, a delightfully sweet confection. It weaves a beguiling tapestry of life in contemporary Beirut with all its contradictions, as Christian and Muslim, young and old, religious and secular, all live and work side by side. A poignant portrait of women trying to make the best of life (and their various relationships), Caramel’s focus on the personal rather than the political side of life in Lebanon makes for a refreshing change.

"a quietly engaging slice-of-life casualness" - The Onion