The film is an international co-production between France, Tunisia, Germany and Saudi Arabia.
The 35th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, spanning from January 4 to 15, has announced this year’s distinguished jury award recipients. The coveted FIPRESCI prize, acknowledging excellence in the International Film Festival Oscar submissions programme, was claimed by the Tunisian film Four Daughters. Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, this film stands as Tunisia’s official submission for the Oscars.
In a statement, the jury said: “While digging through the details of the tragic disintegration of a Tunisian family, director Kaouther Ben Hania reclaims the cliché of reenactment and reinvents it, emerging with a powerful account of human complexity. This striking blend of fact, meta-fiction and confessional therapy makes a convincing case for the continued vitality of cinema as an art form.”
Four Daughters recently secured the Best Documentary Feature award at the esteemed 33rd annual Gotham Awards, a major international recognition for independent cinema. The film, an ambitious exploration of rebellion, memory, and sisterhood, reconstructs the intricate story of Olfa Hamrouni and her daughters in Tunisia. Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, the film weaves together intimate interviews, reenactments, and confessions to delve into the complexities of a family history marked by radicalisation and disappearance.
Tunisia has submitted Four Daughters as its official entry for the Academy Awards’ Best Documentary Feature category, marking the third time that Ben Hania has represented Tunisia at the Oscars. Her previous submissions include the 2020 film The Man Who Sold His Skin and the 2017 film Beauty and the Dogs.
Four Daughters is produced by Tanit Films in association with Cinetelefilms and Twenty Twenty in co-production with Red Sea Film Festival Foundation, ZDF/Arte, and Jour2Fête. The film is produced by Nadim Cheikhrouha in association with Habib Attia and Thanassis Karathanos.
