Tunisian filmmaker, Kaouther Ben Hania has courted the attention of the movie world with the exhibition of her docu-fiction film, “Four Daughters” at the Cannes Festival competition premiere held in Paris, France.
The “Four Daughters”, which is a mix of documentary and fiction and tells the story of a Tunisian mother whose two older daughters joined the radical Islamic terror group, ISIS, drew wide acclaim from critics and is recording good sales following its positive reception.
According to world-renowned Variety movie critic, Jessica Kiang, the Oscar-nominated Ben Hania, whose previous works include “Beauty and the Dogs” and “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” delves into the story of Tunisia’s Olfa Hamrouni who rose to international prominence in April 2016 when she publicized the radicalization of her two teenage daughters who had left Tunisia to fight with ISIS.
“The film, which is the only Arab entry in this year’s Cannes competition, stars Egyptian-Tunisian star, Hend Sabry, in the lead role of an actor who must play Hamrouni and gets coaching from the real Olfa on how to prepare for the role,” Kiang said.
“It also stars two of the four daughters as themselves and actresses Ichraq Matar and Nour Karoui as the two other daughters lost to ISIS.
“Four Daughters” is a compelling, ambitious hybrid, and one of the aspects that makes the film gripping is that we’re not used to seeing this overtly experimental approach applied to a story about the daily struggles of Arab women in a majority-Islamic North African country”, she added.
Ben Hania who also spoke on the success of her movie, said:
“What interested me is that it’s a women’s story and also a story of adolescent women. They are teenagers when everything happened. So what does it mean to be a teenager in a context like this?
“What does it mean to start thinking about sexuality with a mother that does not want to hear about your sexuality or your desire? In a world where desire is punished.”