An excited crowd of moviegoers flocked to the Uptown Palladium in Birmingham Wednesday to get an early look at Academy Award nominated Lebanese film “Caramel.”

Director, co-writer and lead actress Nadine Labaki attended and heard roaring laughter from the largely Arab American crowd. She received intense praise afterward from Arabs and non-Arabs alike. “I’m not Arab and I’m not Lebanese, but I wanted to tell you that your movie is very universal,” said Oneita Jackson, 39, of Detroit, to Labaki after the screening.

Director, co-writer and lead actress Nadine Labaki

“I’m going to call a lot of people I know and tell them to see it,” she said. The film is in Arabic with English subtitles that don’t always get across the hilarity of the distinctly Lebanese dialogue. But Wayne State University film studies student Tamara Holland said that what the subtitles didn’t convey, came across through the film’s imagery. “Everything doesn’t have to be said. [Labaki] has a very strong gift of subtlety,” Holland said. Frequent power outages and frustrating blackouts in the middle of romantic climaxes exemplify the way the movie makes the audience feel with the characters. Holland and Jackson said that each of the several women in the movie centered in a Beirut hair salon had something about them that they could relate to. Labaki said the same in an interview with The Arab American News. “People are really identifying with them… Each person sees a different thing in the movie,” she said. “I loved writing for all the characters… I’m fascinated with the different stages in life that women go through.” Labaki said each of the stories portrayed in the ensemble was inspired by people around her living in Beirut. “I’ve always known that someday I was going to make a film,” she said. Growing up during the Lebanese civil war also contributed to her desire to escape into film. “Through a film you can create a world that’s different from the real world,” she said. “Caramel” injects humor into intense subject matter. Delicate social issues, adultery and homosexuality are addressed with as much comedy as pain. “Usually these issues are not spoken about in the open,” said local domestic violence victims advocate Joanna Ladki at the screening. “Humor is a very good way to communicate,” Labaki said. “My goal was to really communicate. I wanted to say it in a very soft way.” The delicacy, humor and subtlety were all portrayed by a cast of mostly non-professional actresses. “This is the first time in front of the camera for them,” said Labaki about the group of ordinary people she spent a year assembling. “I wanted give you the impression that you were observing other people’s lives… with people who look like you, act like you.” She said her own presence in the center of film playing one of the main characters allowed her to guide and bring together the inexperienced group to create a deep, authentic chemistry. “They felt close to me. Acting with them, it created a very strong friendship. It was not a fake friendship.” The closeness of the film’s Muslim and Christian characters has attracted attention, interpreted by many as a message of tolerance, but Labaki said it was not a conscious decision to put that element in the script. “It’s only a reflection of Beirut,” where Muslims and Christians have always lived together, she said, “It became a political statement afterwards because of everything that’s happening right now [in Lebanon]. It became a political statement.” Local independent film director Samer Kadi said he was impressed by both the social and technical aspects of the film. “It was very well done. Very warm. Very cozy… I noticed a lot of handheld shots. I really appreciate this work… You feel like you’re back home. I tip my hat to Nadine Labaki for addressing a lot of issues.” Labaki said she hopes to begin writing again soon for another movie, but that it’s too early to talk much about. “I’m waiting to become obsessed with it,” she said.