Capernaum - actors, characters and roles

All actors and their roles in the film "Capernaum"

کفرناحوم (2018)

Timing: 2:6 (126 min)

8.138/10
1949

8.16/10
179345

8.4/10
123000

All about film

Video 18

Photo 57

Actors and characters

Zain Al Rafeea

Character Zain

Yordanos Shifera

Character Rahil

Boluwatife Treasure Bankole

Character Yonas

Kawsar Al Haddad

Character Souad

Fadi Kamel Yousef

Character Selim

Cedra Izzam

Character Sahar

Alaa Chouchnieh

Character Aspro

Elias Khoury

Character The Judge

Nadine Labaki

Character Nadine

Nour el Husseini

Character Assaad

Joseph Jimbazian

Character Cockroach Man / Harout

Samira Chalhoub

Character Daad

Farah Hasno

Character Maysoun

What's left behind the scenes

The film was made with the participation of non-professional actors. All the actors were found through street casting. Children and adults were found on the street and asked to answer a few questions on camera. For example, children were asked: “Are you happy to be alive?”. Most children answered this question similarly: “No, I would like to die”, “I don’t know why I live,” and so on. None of the children who auditioned knew how old they were, when or where they were born, and they had never celebrated their birthday.
The main character, Zayn, was also found during street casting. His real name is Zayn, and he was, like his character, presumably 12 years old during filming. Due to the military conflict, Zayn and his family moved from Syria to neighboring Lebanon. He is a Syrian refugee. For eight years, he lived in very difficult conditions in one of the areas that the viewer sees in the film, in circumstances that were worse than what the viewer sees in the film, and, like his character, he worked illegally from a young age. Zayn never went to school. At the time of filming, he couldn't even write his own name.
Since the film features non-professional actors, director Nadine Labaki asked the characters during filming to react spontaneously to the scripted scenes, using their own words and gestures. When their acting deviated from the script, Labaki adapted the story to fit the characters.
Participation in the film helped change the lives of everyone involved in the production – the non-professional actors whose fate and daily lives were not far removed from what was shown in the film. Currently, the film's main character, Zein, lives in Norway with his family in a house by the sea and attends school.
The film's premiere in Cannes on May 17, 2018, concluded with a 15-minute standing ovation.
The film was made with the participation of non-professional actors. All the actors were found through street casting. Children and adults were found on the street and asked to answer a few questions on camera. For example, children were asked: “Are you happy to be alive?” Most children answered this question in a similar way: “No, I wish I were dead,” “I don’t know why I live,” and so on. None of the children auditioning knew how old they were, when or where they were born, and they had never celebrated their birthday.
The main character, Zayn, was also found through street casting. His real name is Zayn, and like his character, he was presumably 12 years old during filming. Due to the military conflict, Zayn and his family moved from Syria to neighboring Lebanon. He is a Syrian refugee. For eight years, he lived in very difficult conditions in one of the areas that the viewer sees in the film, in circumstances that are worse than what the viewer sees in the film, and, like his character, he worked illegally from a young age. Zayn never went to school. At the time of filming, he couldn't even write his name.

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