OLFAS TÖCHTER

Olfa Hamrouni, a Tunisian woman, raised four daughters. Two of them, Ghofrane and Rahma, disappeared around 2016: they had joined the so-called Islamic State in Libya. To fill the void, Kaouther Ben Hania invites actresses in: Hend Sabri plays Olfa, Nour Karoui and Ichraq Matar play the absent daughters, the two younger ones, Eya and Tayssir, play themselves, and Majd Mastoura takes on all the male roles. In front of the camera, scenes from the family’s life are re-enacted, interrupted, discussed – and in the process what shaped this family comes to light: hope, rebellion, sisterhood. “Olfas Töchter” by Kaouther Ben Hania, a Tunisian film from 2023, is document and staged reconstruction at once.

The Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania co-produced with France, Germany and Saudi Arabia: 107 minutes in which the method itself becomes the subject, because Olfa and her daughters are allowed to contradict the reconstruction. It premiered in competition at Cannes 2023, where it won the Œil d’or for best documentary; the César for best documentary followed, along with an Oscar nomination. The film was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2023 in the Berlinale World Cinema Fund section.

Shown at the 2023 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2023 · Film Archive