Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters – 2023 Cannes Critics’ Panel: Day 3

Another first-timer in the comp, Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania came to Cannes in 2017 for the Un Certain Regard section selected Beauty and the Dogs. She was last showcased in Venice with The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020 – Orizzonti section). Four Daughters (aka Les filles d’Olfa) proposes a hybrid look that might remind some what Kitty Green achieved in the recent past.

Between light and darkness stands Olfa, a Tunisian woman and the mother of four daughters. One day, her two older daughters disappear. To fill in their absence, the filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania invites professional actresses and invents a unique cinema experience that will lift the veil on Olfa and her daughters’ life stories. An intimate journey of hope, rebellion, violence, transmission and sisterhood that will question the very foundations of our societies.

Current temp: Another late night film premiere last night, we only have half of our jury people throwing in their grades and this is a hybrid docu turns out to be quite divisive reaching an average grade of 2.9. I say bring the tissues – the spirit, the flawed “characters” and resilience in this portrait is palpable.

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