Beirut — For Lebanon's Nadine Labaki, whose social-realist epic "Capernaum" is an Oscar contender for best foreign film, the toughest battle is only just beginning.

Her heart-wrenching story of poverty and survival in Beirut's wretched underclass won a 15-minute standing ovation and the Jury Prize in Cannes last year.

A former election candidate in Beirut, Labaki now hopes an Academy Award will not only complete the film's impressive harvest of distinctions but also boost its impact at home.

"So the conversation is starting now and that was my aim, to create this shock, and to create this debate," Labaki told AFP in her Beirut office.

The 45-year-old has arguably become Lebanese culture's most prominent export and she is bent on making good use of her growing celebrity.

"I feel it like a duty, it's not a choice even, and this is what we're going to start doing, very, very soon: show the film to the government and organize these round tables with judges and lawyers," she said.

"Maybe it's going to have a big influence and maybe it won't, but we have to try," Labaki said.

The film has already changed the lives of its cast members, many of whom were experiencing the same struggles as their characters during the grueling six-month shoot.

"Capernaum" follows the travails of Zain, a malnourished boy who runs away from his family when his 11-year-old sister Sahar is sold into marriage.

He is sheltered by an undocumented African worker named Rahil and ends up looking after her baby boy Yonas when she is arrested and jailed.

The parallels between the film's script and what happened to the actors in real life are uncanny. — AFP