Editor’s Note: LOL!

In 2005, like a dutiful teen with a disposable income, I saw Mr. & Mrs. Smith in theatres. What I remember most—more than the chemistry between a pre-Brangelina Brad and Angie and any specific plot points—was a stranger who advised me after my reaction to one particularly goofy scene, “You need to learn how to laugh.” I’m […]

Flipping the script: Nadine Labaki’s Where Do We Go Now?

In her 2011 film Where Do We Go Now?, director Nadine Labaki explores the complex and taboo subjects of sectarian violence, religion, and patriarchal oppression in contemporary Lebanon—through humour expressed almost entirely by women. It’s a move that flips the script on conventional Western depictions of Middle Eastern women. In doing this, Labaki’s story of […]