Documented Screening Program: Four Daughters

Screening A gripping metafictional documentary, the Oscar®-nominated Four Daughters tells the story of a Tunisian mother’s grief when two of her four daughters run away to join Islamic State in Libya.

After Olfa’s two eldest daughters disappear, actors are brought in to recreate their story and unlock the truth, in Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-nominated film.

Olfa’s family is fractured. Her arranged marriage has broken down and she’s spent most of her life as the single mother of four daughters, but her two eldest daughters have now disappeared. To tell their family’s story, two professional actors are recruited to play the roles of the missing women. Secrets are unlocked, old wounds are reopened and a family’s intergenerational traumas are laid bare.

Blasting through the building blocks of the “talking heads”-style documentary, Kaouther Ben Hania’s thoroughly creative and enthralling film harnesses fiction to build a space for the truth to unravel before the viewers eyes.

Four Daughters premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival as one of the few documentaries to screen in competition, subsequently receiving the L’Oeil d’Or award for Best Documentary. This film has since gone on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary.

Ticketing information: Tickets are $12 for AIDC delegates and are available to purchase via the ACMI website or in-person at the ACMI ticket desk.

Director Kaouther Ben Hania will participate in a virtual in-conversation with Alice McShane (AIDC) as part of the AIDC session Reconstructing Memory with Kaouther Ben Hania.

Image credit: Four Daughters (The Party Film Sales, 2023)

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Documented Screening Program: Four Daughters

Screening A gripping metafictional documentary, the Oscar®-nominated Four Daughters tells the story of a Tunisian mother’s grief when two of her four daughters run away to join Islamic State in Libya.

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