Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania is the sole representative of the Arab world contending in the official competition of feature films at the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Alongside seven other talented female directors such as Jessica Hausner, Justine Triet, Catherine Breillat, Catherine Corsini, Alice Rohrwacher, and Ramata-Toulaye SY, she brings, with her film Les filles d’Olfa, remarkable diversity and artistic excellence to the internationally renowned cinematic event.
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This selection highlights the Festival’s commitment to promoting the voices of women in the film industry and celebrating their extraordinary achievements. The participation of Kaouther Ben Hania and other female directors is a testament to their dedication to pushing the boundaries of cinematic creativity and inspiring future generations of filmmakers. This edition of the Cannes Film Festival promises to be a tribute to artistic diversity and to the importance of female representation in the world of cinema.
Filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania is once again in contention for the prestigious Palme d’Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival (May 16-27, 2023) with her latest documentary, Les filles d’Olfa. This distinction would be another accolade for the exceptional journey of the director, who made her debut on the Croisette in 2014 with Le Challat de Tunis.
Ben Hania’s journey at Cannes is dotted with remarkable achievements: 4 films, 3 awards, and she has been a jury member twice. Her first feature film, Le Challat de Tunis, premiered worldwide at the 67th edition of the festival in 2014. Its screening attracted such a large crowd that a second hall had to be opened at the Arcades, with a capacity of 460 seats and three screens. The film was presented under the aegis of ACID, the Association for Independent Cinema and its Distribution, a real incubator of creativity and distribution which has been organizing a parallel section at the Cannes Festival since 1993.
In 2016, Ben Hania presented Zaineb n’aime pas la neige, then La Belle et la Meute in 2017, which won the Best Sound Creation Award for Amine Bouhafa’s music in the section “Un Certain Regard”. In 2018, actress Meriyem Ferjani received the Best Actress Award from the Arab Cinema Center for her role in Ala Kaf Ifrit (La Belle et la Meute), which was also chosen to represent Tunisia at the 2019 Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
In 2018, at the 71st Cannes Film Festival, the Arab Cinema Center honored Tunisian actress Meriyem Ferjani by presenting her with the Best Actress Award at the second annual Critics’ Award. This recognition was awarded for her performance in the feature film Ala Kaf Ifrit (The Beauty and the Pack), a film selected by the National Cinema and Image Center to represent Tunisia in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 2019 Oscars.
In 2021, Kaouther Ben Hania, as a member of the short films and school films competition jury of the Cinéfondation, won the Critics’ Award for Best Screenplay for her penultimate film, The Man Who Sold His Skin (2019). This feature film was selected at the 2020 Venice Film Festival, where it won the Best Actor Award, and was nominated for the Oscar of Best International Film in 2021.
The following year, in 2022, the director was chosen to chair the jury of the Critics’ Week, an independent and non-competitive section organized by the French film critics’ union since 1962. This section highlights the first and second feature films from cinemas around the world.
In 2023, Kaouther Ben Hania made another notable entry at the Cannes Film Festival as a screenwriter, editor, and director of a co-production between Tunisia, France, Germany, and Saudi Arabia. Her latest film, Les filles d’Olfa, is carried by music signed by Amine Bouhafa and stars Hend Sabri in the lead role of Olfa, accompanied by Nour Karoui, Ichraq Matar, and Majd Mastoura. The plot focuses on
the life of Olfa, a Tunisian mother of four daughters, two of whom mysteriously disappear. Through this docu-fiction, Kaouther Ben Hania brings together professional actresses to explore the story of Olfa and her daughters, using a unique cinematic apparatus.
This intimate journey is a blend of hope, rebellion, violence, transmission, and sisterhood, challenging the very foundations of our societies. The theatrical release of Les filles d’Olfa, Kaouther Ben Hania’s fifth feature film, is scheduled for July 5, 2023.
Synopsis:
The life of Olfa, a Tunisian mother of four daughters, oscillates between shadow and light. One day, her two eldest daughters disappear. To fill their absence, director Kaouther Ben Hania summons professional actresses and sets up a unique cinematic device to lift the veil on the story of Olfa and her daughters. The film is an intimate journey of hope, rebellion, violence, transmission, and sisterhood that will question the very foundations of our societies.
