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During previews while I waited to watch Persepolis with some friends, one preview caught my eye.

It began with a woman I recognized as Nadine Labaki, a well-known Lebanese Arabic music video producer and stunningly beautiful woman dabbling in acting recently.

Sugar, water and lemon juice are thrown together into a pot and boiled. I knew immediately this was no recipe for candy; it was the wax many Middle Eastern women make to use instead of shaving. I remember watching my own mother make it as a child. Since it’s just water, sugar and lemon juice, it’s also edible. If a batch doesn’t turn out quite right, then you’ve got yourself some sweet, gooey caramel to eat.

Labaki is starring in Caramel , a Lebanese movie that has gotten nods from film festivals in Europe and even our very own Sundance. Check out the music for the movie here http://www.nadinelabaki.com/caramel.php. It’s whimsical.

Labaki’s last movie meant well, but it was unbearably cheesy in my opinion. Caramel is about five women coping with sex, heartbreak and aging; the same problems almost every woman on earth faces at some point in her life.

I can’t wait for this movie to come out in a couple of months. Besides the fact that it looks exceptionally well-done, it will humanize Arab women in a way that the media has largely failed to do.