Four Daughters (2023)
Four Daughters
”A Tunisian mother's life takes a dark turn when her two eldest daughters go missing.”
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Why watch this film?
Four Daughters is an Oscar-nominated documentary film that deviates significantly from the format we're used to for this type of production. No monotonous "talking heads," for example. Here, filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania (The Man Who Sold His Skin) brings two actresses on screen to portray two of Olfa's four daughters, a Tunisian woman. The two are missing and cause a hole in this mother's life. Gradually, in this blend of documentary accounts and performances with these actresses, we follow a unique cinematic experience that traces an intimate journey of hope, rebellion, violence, and sisterhood, questioning the foundations of our societies and surprising with the delicacy with which it deals with such a complex and difficult topic.
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Plot summary
The life of Olfa, a Tunisian woman and mother of 4 daughters, oscillates between light and shadow. One day, her two eldest daughters disappear. To fill their absence, director Kaouther Ben Hania calls upon professional actors and sets up an extraordinary film mechanism to unveil the story of Olfa and her daughters. An intimate journey full of hope, rebellion, violence, intergenerational transmission and sisterhood, which will question the very foundation of our societies.
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From the same director
Beauty and the Dogs
"Aala Kaf Ifrit" is an extremely relevant (and also hard to watch) movie about how power and authority can intimidate and threaten individual rights of citizens - specifically women. Through the story of a young woman who is raped by police officers, we see that the situation can get even worse when the aggressors are embraced by the system and not the victim, who suffers from start to finish, before, during and after the abuse. Director Kaouther Ben Hania ("The Man Who Sold His Skin") has crafted a story so unsettling with the film's editing that you can feel in the character's shoes and it's revolting. As with any production on this subject, however difficult it may be to watch, it is necessary as unfortunately this is an everyday occurrence in a woman's life. And there is no other way to portray it, any abuse being brutal and completely repulsive. The performance of the protagonist Mariam Al Ferjan is simply breathtaking, with just a look she can convey everything she is feeling, she doesn't even need to make a sound. "Aala Kaf Ifrit" is based on a true story, the saddest part of it is that we know it's not the only account of it and it won't be the last.
I and the Stupid Boy
A powerful, contemporary, necessary short film. Directed and written by Kaouther Ben Hania (from the award-winning ‘The Man Who Sold His Skin’), the film uses only 14 minutes to talk about Nora, a young woman on her way to a date. However, along the way, she unexpectedly meets her ex, Kevin, who demands answers from the brilliantly portrayed Oulaya Amamra. At the end of these less than 15 minutes, it is hard not to think about important topics such as machismo, psychological terrorism practiced by men against women, and other abusive situations in relationships—whether they are current or already ended. An urgent short film.
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Kaouther Ben Hania is one of the most interesting Arab directors of today, after 'Beauty and the Dogs' (2017), she returns to navigate through controversial and extremely important topics. In 'The Man Who Sold His Skin' the filmmaker discusses nationality and xenophobia by telling the story of a young Syrian who leaves his country to go after his great love and to get a visa in Europe he agrees to be tattooed by a famous contemporary artist - who turns him into a work of art. From there, we enter a terrain where the boy stops being seen as a Syrian refugee and becomes a product. This reflection makes us think how far the limits of the human being go and if it is really worth leaving our identity for other opportunities in life. Kaouther Ben Hania works with a very controversial theme and that resonates in our minds for a while. The director is an incredible example - not only for being a female filmmaker, but for showing the strength of Arab stories.
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