Title: Les Filles d’Olfa
Year: 2023
Running Time: 107′
Country: France and Tunisia
Directed by: Kaouther Ben Hania
Written by: Kaouther Ben Hania
Starring: Eya Chikhaoui; Tayssir Chikhaoui; Olfa Hamrouni; Nour Karoui; Majd Mastoura; Ichrak Matar; Kal Naga; Hind Sabri
© 2023 Tanit Films / Cinétéléfilms / Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion GmbH / Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC) / Ministère des Affaires Culturelles / Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image / Red Sea Film Festival Foundation / ZDF-Arte / Jour2Fête / Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg / Sunnyland Film / Fonds Images de la Francophonie / The Berlinale World Cinema Fund / Kamel Lazaar Foundation for Art and Culture / Cairo Film Connection / Sacem.
Review by Guifré Margarit i Contel | 04 July 2023
In-between being a documentary, a fiction, and even just a behind the scenes look to the making of a movie, this is for sure an innovative approach to filmmaking.
Nevertheless, this mix proposed by Kaouther Ben Hania can also be a bit perceived like a macabre social experiment for which it makes you wonder if it the experiment is worth the making considering the pain that it causes to everyone involved (both for the real people, as well as the professional actors).
The drama and intensity of the story surely gets strengthen as we move forward and we transition from the experiences of the mother to those of the daughters.
Concurrently, it is noteworthy how actually uncomfortably and bravely comedic it is the film at times considering its unsettling subject matter.
