Four Daughters review: A responsible and crucial documentary on religious radicalisation in Tunisia

Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania's Arabic-language documentary "Four Daughters" was screened at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023. 

Daughters are always separated from their mothers after marriage. However, even though painful, most mothers find happiness in that separation - happiness and hope for their daughter’s future. However, Olfa Hamrouni’s separation from her two daughters Ghofrane and Rahma was nothing short of a nightmare. The two daughters were victims of radicalisation and eloped to join the Islamic State. “Four Daughters” is a documentary that shows Olfa and her other two daughters Tayssir and Aya retelling the tale of what led to this disastrous event. 

Also Read: Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023 Day 6: Borderlands and Follower review

Four Daughters experiments with its narration. It doesn’t simply take interviews. Olfa, Tayssir and Aya talk about their past and teach actors how to play the roles of Olfa (Hend Sabri), Ghofrane (Ichraq Matar), and Rahma (Nour Karoui). The documentary is innovative and engaging. And while radicalisation is the larger theme, the film delves deeper into various sub-themes. It starts by exploring Olfa’s childhood, her marriage, and her refusal to bow down to anyone. It looks at mother-daughter relationships and intergenerational trauma. Olfa, Tayssir, and Aya teach us why we should be breaking toxic familial patterns. It delves into how girls navigate womanhood and the roles sisters play in it. It very openly discusses women’s bodies, which are often seen as a source of shame. It talks about toxic fathers and mothers and how parents often remove their frustration on children. The documentary also takes the government and history into account. It looks at society’s and the government’s failure in saving the vulnerable from being radicalised. It provides a detailed explanation of how poverty, lack of education, familial trauma, and a conservative society can radicalise young minds. 

Most importantly, Four Daughters deals with the subject of radicalisation rather sensitively. When Bollywood made a film on Islamic radicalisation, it ended up spreading Islamophobia. Four Daughters is very responsible in its approach to the topic. It isn’t interested in generalising people. It doesn’t treat people as mere names or numbers. It looks at the vulnerable with the gaze of curiosity, asking what sends them down that path and what it does to those left behind. It looks at the faults in the system. And this is perhaps how documentaries should be made- with responsibility.