The Lumière Reader winds down its New Zealand International Film Festivals coverage for 2008 with a series of illustrations by LYNDON BARROIS and ADDOLEY DZEGEDE. The Festival itself (in condensed form) continues to tour these remaining centres: New Plymouth (Sept 4-17), Nelson (Sept 11-25), Greymouth (Oct 2-8), Masterton (Oct 15-29), Queenstown (Oct 23-Nov 5), Gisborne (Nov 6-19), Whangarei (Nov 13-26). The Editor’s Post-Festival Wrap will follow shortly (previous years’ reports can be surveyed here); in the meantime, Lumière’s 70+ film reviews, along with visiting filmmaker interviews, can be revisited via our NZIFF ’08 A-Z Guide.

Grooming and torture in the Middle East. By NINA FOWLER.

DIRECTOR Nadine Labaki’s debut feature is candid and charming. The plot is standard romantic comedy; the film as a whole a dusty, beautiful sweep of the lives of women in Beirut. Labaki herself plays salon-owner Layale, torn between her role as a dutiful Christian daughter and her troubled love for a married man. Beautician Nisrine (Yasmine Al Masri) faces a Muslim wedding night sans hymen. Jamale struggles to come to terms with her age; spinster Rose (Sihame Haddad) gets a last chance at romance. The supporting cast is familiar: cute cop, crazy old woman and handsome American. Where Caramel gets interesting is the intersection of these rom-com cliches with the reality of everyday life in Lebanon. Easy to identify with relationship and work troubles, less easy to relate to an armed soldier tapping on the window of your car.