Dozens of ambassadors stationed in South Korea gathered on Feb. 20 to watch the Oscar-nominated movie “Capernaum” in an event hosted by the Lebanese Embassy here.

Envoys from 31 countries and their partners were invited to the screening of the Lebanese film, directed and co-written by Nadine Labaki, which depicts the lives of street children in the slums of Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon. 

Since its release here on Jan. 24, the film has attracted over 120,000 viewers in Korea.

“This is definitely not about promoting the state of Lebanon, once called the ‘Jewel of the Middle East,’” said Antoine Azzam, the Lebanese ambassador to South Korea.

“‘Capernaum’ talks about human rights. It’s about a family of Syrian refugees who don’t even have birth certificates.”

According to the ambassador, some 1.5 million Syrian refugees and 500,000 Palestinian refugees are living in Lebanon in extremely difficult conditions without any international support.

The fictional drama follows a 12-year-old Lebanese boy who decides to sue his parents in court for giving birth to him and trapping him in a hostile world.

(hnpark@heraldcorp.com)