Olfas eldest teenagers Ghofrane and Rahma were swept up in the religious fervor and disappeared in 2015.
Only later did it emerge they had joined ISIS in Libya and had been married off to militant leaders.
Olfa did TV and radio interviews to tell the story of her daughters.
‘Four Daughters’Kino Lorber
I contacted the journalist, and he gave me her number.
It was like an impulse.
That was back in 2016.
Olfa Hamrouni, protagonist of ‘Four Daughters,’ at the Cannes Film Festival.Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
She settled on an approach more in line with her background in narrative.
So, I told myself, its such a cliche, I will hack it, she remembers thinking.
Ill use reenactment, but as I want it, and to serve the story.
I know that actors are very good asking questions about character, Ben Hania explains.
She describes battling her husband, who seemed to regard her as property, and later divorcing him.
That left Olfa to raise four girls on her own.
These harsh anecdotes do not endear Olfa to the woman who plays her Sabri.
Hend is very rational.
That character, forged in a male-dominated culture, must be seen in context, Ben Hania says.
Its a movie with women and they are strong women.
Olfa is very strong.
She doesnt respect men.
Shes not the kind of woman that will fear a man, Ben Hania notes.
Shes like the guardian of patriarchy.
And you have women like this, they perpetuate the patriarchy codes.
We know that patriarchy is something that exists all over the world.
We know that religion, and especially monotheistic religions, are very patriarchal.
But also there is the common culture of patriarchy that is very, very old.
The youngest two, Eya and Tayssir, express determination not to repeat their mothers patterns.
Ben Hania says it was never her intention to make a separate fictionalized version of the familys story.
