Four Daughters (2023 film)

Four Daughters (Arabic: بنات ألفة, romanized: Banāt Olfa, French: Les Filles d'Olfa, lit. 'Olfa's Daughters') is a 2023 Arabic-language documentary[3] film directed by Kaouther Ben Hania. After two daughters of a Tunisian mother disappeared, the filmmaker invites professional actresses to compensate for the loss. The film is an international co-production between France, Tunisia, Germany and Saudi Arabia.[4]

Four Daughters
French theatrical release poster
Arabicبنات ألفة
LiterallyOlfa's Daughters
Directed byKaouther Ben Hania
Written byKaouther Ben Hania[1]
Produced by
  • Nadim Cheikhrouha
  • Habib Attia
  • Thanassis Karathanos
  • Martin Hampel
CinematographyFarouk Laaridh[1]
Edited by
  • Kaouther Ben Hania[1]
  • Qutaiba Barhamji[1]
  • Jean-Christophe Hym[1]
Music byAmine Bouhafa[1]
Production
companies
Distributed byJour2Fête
Release dates
  • 19 May 2023 (2023-05-19) (Cannes)
  • 5 July 2023 (2023-07-05) (France)
Running time
107 minutes[1]
Countries
  • France
  • Germany
  • Tunisia
  • Saudi Arabia
LanguageArabic
Box office816,551[2]

The film competed for the Palme d'Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 19 May 2023. It was released in France on 5 July 2023. It was selected as the Tunisian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.[5]

Premise

Tunisian Olfa is the mother of four daughters. One day her two older daughters disappear. To fill the void left, film director Kaouther Ben Hania invites professional actresses and brings the viewer closer to the life stories of Olfa and her daughters.[6] The film mixes documentary and fiction.[7]

Cast
  • Hend Sabri as Olfa
  • Olfa Hamrouni
  • Eya Chikahoui
  • Tayssir Chikhaoui
  • Nour Karoui as Rahma Chikhaoui
  • Ichraq Matar as Ghofrane Chikhaoui
  • Majd Mastoura

Background

Tunisian Olfa Hamrouni rose to international prominence in April 2016 when she publicized the radicalization of her two teenage daughters, Rahma and Ghofrane Chikhaoui. Both teenagers had left Tunisia to fight alongside the Islamic State (IS) in Libya. Hamrouni publicly criticized the Tunisian authorities for not preventing her daughter Rahma from leaving the country.[8] After the arrest of the two women by Libyan forces, the authorities again did not react. Hamrouni is also said to have been prevented from leaving the country in order to look for her daughters in Libya on her own.[9]

Production

The film is produced by Nadim Cheikhrouha at Paris-based Tanit Films; Habib Attia at Tunis-based Cinétéléfilms;[10] Thanassis Karathanos and Martin Hampel at Berlin-based Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion GmbH;[11] and co-produced by Red Sea Film Festival Foundation, ZDF/ARTE, and Jour2Fête.[12]

Release

Four Daughters was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival,[13] where it had its world premiere on 19 May 2023.[14] This is the second participation of a Tunisian production in the Cannes main competition since Abdellatif Ben Ammar's feature film A Simple Story in 1970.[15] The film was theatrically released in France by Jour2Fête on 5 July 2023.[16] It was also invited at the 28th Busan International Film Festival in 'Documentary Showcase' section and will be screened in October 2023.[17]

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10.[18] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, based on 8 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[19] Four Daughters received an average rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars on the French website AlloCiné, based on 28 reviews.[20]

Awards and nominations
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Cannes Film Festival 27 May 2023 Palme d'Or Kaouther Ben Hania Nominated [13]
L'Œil d'or (Shared with The Mother of All Lies) Won [21]
François Chalais Prize Won [22]
Prix de la Citoyenneté Won
Munich Film Festival 1 July 2023 ARRI/OSRAM Award for Best Film Won [23]
Brussels International Film Festival 5 July 2023 Grand Prix - International Competition Four Daughters Nominated [24]
International Competition - Jury Prize Won [25]
Calgary International Film Festival 1 October 2023 Best International Documentary Feature Nominated [26]
Chicago International Film Festival 22 October 2023 Best International Documentary Nominated [27]
Best International Documentary - Special Mention Won [28]
Valladolid International Film Festival 28 October 2023 Golden Spike Pending [29]
Montclair Film Festival 29 October 2023 Bruce Sinofsky Prize for Documentary Feature Pending [30]
Gotham Independent Film Awards 27 November 2023 Best Documentary Feature Pending [31]

See also

References
  1. "LES FILLES D'OLFA". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  2. "Four Daughters (2023)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  3. Eboulé, Christian (13 April 2023). "Festival de Cannes : qui sont les deux cinéastes africaines dans la sélection officielle ?". TV5Monde (in French). Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  4. "LES FILLES D'OLFA". Jour2Fête. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  5. mounir (31 August 2023). "" بنات ألفة" لكوثر بن هنية، الفيلم المرشح لتمثيل تونس في جائزة الأوسكار لأفضل فيلم عالمي 2024". أنباء تونس (in Arabic). Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  6. "Four Daughters". thepartysales.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  7. Aftab, Kaleem (24 April 2023). "Tunisia's 'Four Daughters' is Cannes' only competing Arab film as festival shifts east". The Arab Weekly. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  8. "Les Tunisiens de retour des zones de conflit seront judiciarisés". African Manager (in French). 19 November 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  9. "La mère des deux terroristes Rahma et Ghofrane : « J'accuse ! »". African Manager (in French). 27 April 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  10. Goodfellow, Melanie (6 September 2020). "Kaouther Ben Hania on the real-life inspiration for 'The Man Who Sold His Skin'". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  11. Blaney, Martin (3 July 2023). "Filmfest München closes with prizes, rising admissions and chatter about future heads of German festivals". Screen Daily. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  12. Keslassy, Elsa (22 June 2023). "Kino Lorber Buys U.S. Rights to Cannes Competition's 'Four Daughters' by Oscar-Nominated Kaouther Ben Hania (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  13. "The films of the Official Selection 2023". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  14. mraultpauillac (10 May 2023). "The Screenings Guide of the 76th Festival de Cannes". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  15. ""Les filles d'Olfa" de Kaouther Ben Hania au Festival de Cannes". mosaiquefm.net. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  16. "Quelles dates de sortie en salle pour les films sélectionnés à Cannes ?". boxofficepro.fr (in French). 1 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  17. "The 28th Busan International Film Festival: Selection List". Busan International Film Festival. 5 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  18. "Four Daughters". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  19. "Four Daughters". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  20. "Critiques Presse pour le film Les Filles d'Olfa". AlloCiné (in French). Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  21. Carey, Matthew (27 May 2023). "'Four Daughters' And 'The Mother Of All Lies' Share L'Oeil d'Or, Top Documentary Prize At Cannes". Deadline. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  22. Mrad, Slim (29 May 2023). "Pluie de récompenses pour les films maghrébins à Cannes". boxofficepro.fr (in French). Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  23. "WE'RE ALL WINNERS!". Filmfest München. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  24. "International Competition 2023 | BRIFF". Brussels International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  25. "Awards 2023 | BRIFF". Brussels International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  26. "CIFF: Four Daughters". Calgary International Film Festival. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  27. Kay, Jeremy (14 September 2023). "'Fallen Leaves', 'About Dry Grasses', 'La Chimera' among Chicago fest international line-up (exclusive)". Screendaily. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  28. "59th Chicago International Film Festival Announces Award-Winners". Roger Ebert.com. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  29. "Seminci 2023 anuncia nuevos nombres para la Sección Oficial y Tiempo de Historia". Cine y Tele (in Spanish). 18 September 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  30. Moye, Clarence (29 September 2023). "Montclair Film Announces Complete 2023 Montclair Film Festival Program". Awards Daily. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  31. Lewis, Hilary (24 October 2023). "'Past Lives,' 'A Thousand and One' and 'All of Us Strangers' Top Gotham Awards Film Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
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