The Tunisian Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée has chosen Kaouther Ben Hania’s documentary Les Filles d’Olfa to represent Tunisia at the Oscars in the categories of Best International Film and Best Documentary. The final nominations will be announced by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on December 21st.
The film is about a Tunisian mother with 4 daughters. The two eldest were radicalized and left home to join Isis in Libya. They are now in prison there. To both fill and symbolize the absence of these two young women, the director cast two actresses to play them during reconstructed family scenes.
The director explains in an interview with France Info why she made this decision: “When I started I wasn’t sure what form to give this story. I started filming Olfa with her two girls at home but I felt there was something missing. Within the classic documentary structure I found it difficult to dig into the past.”
Les Filles d’Olfa was presented in the Official Competition of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and won the Golden Eye Award for Best Documentary, co-winner with the Moroccan film The Mother of All Lies by Asmae El Moudir. This is the first time in over 50 years that a Tunisian film has been included in the Official Competition.
Sources: Box Office Pro, France Info, Arab News
