Interviews

Interview: Nora El Hourch – HLM Pussy (Sisterhood)

Published on October 17, 2023

Selected for TIFF’s Platform section (Toronto’s only competition section), French-born filmmaker Nora El Hourch pulled from some of her own narrative for her high tempo feature debut. Known domestically as HLM Pussy and internationally as Sisterhood, El Hourch delves into the intricate dynamics of friendship as it explores how three teenage girls grapple with the implications of the #MeToo movement in the context of their lives, where factors like race, social class, and cultural privilege can occasionally create divisions. At the center of it all we find Amina (Leah Aubert) — stuck in the middle, trying to fit and desperate to belong.

Fresh off the world premiere showing, I had the opportunity to interview Nora El Hourch who has been a long journey since her last film – the 2015 short film A Few Seconds — a Directors’ Fortnight and TIFF selection. We discussed the title, the complex dilemma of identity that her young female protagonist faces and El Hourch’s close proximity to the material.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).