Capernaum - 1 nomination

Foreign Film - Lebanon; Nadine Labaki

12 year old Zain lives in poverty with his family in Beirut. There are so many children in his home that we, the audience, never actually see all of them on screen together at one time.  His negligent parents are way out of their depth in being able to care for and feed all of their children, and as the oldest, Zain works to support his family.  When a grown adult comes to the family to marry Zain's beloved younger sister, he does everything he can to prevent it but he is too small to protect her.  Following a tragic incident, Zain has had enough of this family and he runs away from home.  When he arrives at a small beachside town, he meets an Ethiopian immigrant mother, Rahil, who takes Zain into her home (tin shack) where he discovers the most adorable baby of all time.  They all live together until one day, Rahil is picked up by immigration and locked up, disappearing without Zain or baby Yonas ever knowing where she has gone.  Suddenly, Zain must provide for himself and this baby, which proves to be an overwhelming and impossible task.  Human traffickers are more than happy to take the baby from Zain who knows in his heart this is the wrong thing to do.  In Zain's life, there are simply no good choices.

Capernaum is truly a heartbreaking film.  It is the one film this year where I literally sobbed in the theater. Capernaum is the runner up for my "hidden gem" award - meaning the film that I had never heard of prior to it receiving a nomination, and truly becoming one of my favorite films of the year.  I highly, highly, can't highly enough, recommend seeing it.  Just bring a box of tissues.