Siblings far from home
Oscar-nominated film tracks sisters who ran away to join Islamic State
Olfa Hamrouni doesn’t know much about her granddaughter — not her favourite toy nor food.
The Tunisian grandmother says, “I don’t want to know. What for but more heartache?” For now, she just fights for eight-year-old Fatma. The child has spent virtually all her life with her mother and aunt — Hamrouni’s eldest daughters — raised in detention in Libya, where the women wound up after leaving home as teenagers and joining Islamic State group extremists.
The real-life story of Hamrouni and her children is the focus of Four Daughters, an Academy Award nominee for best documentary feature film. There are many layers to Kaouther Ben Hania’s film: It’s about the radicalization of two teenage girls; an intimate portrait of a chaotic, and often dysfunctional, family life; and reflections on generational trauma, patriarchy, motherhood and adolescence.
The names change, the details vary, but the nightmare is familiar to some others in Tunisia, where at one point many left to join militant groups, including the Islamic State, in conflict zones abroad. Today, families like Hamrouni’s are living reminders of that complex legacy, the unresolved issues and difficult questions persisting years later.
“It’s ... an open wound in my country,” said actor Hind Sabri, who appears in the film as Hamrouni in some scenes. “As long as we don’t talk about it, then we’re not going to heal.”
Hamrouni hopes the film’s high profile will boost her advocacy for her daughters to be repatriated from Libya, where they had been sentenced to prison, and stand trial in their home country. In Tunisia, as in other countries, some people have been suspicious and fearful of returnees for security reasons.
Hamrouni wants Fatma freed from the confines of her existence. “What fault is it of hers? She hasn’t chosen her father or mother.”
Ben Hania, who wrote and directed the film, echoed the demands. “We’re trying hard to push the Tunisian government,” she said. “A country is responsible for its citizens.”
In the film and the family’s telling, the daughters grew up with little in a tumultuous home. Dad was largely absent and drank too much; Mom was overburdened and harsh.
Hamrouni, in the film, is fixated on preserving her daughters’ sexual purity for marriage. She’s quick to hurl insults and accusations and to punish perceived or real infringements — a waxed leg, a diary entry about a first kiss — with severe beatings.
The family crumbled. The younger girls were placed in a government facility, which they credit with helping them rebuild their lives. Outside, the family says, life was hard and neighbours and relatives shunned them.
Sabri, one of the Arab world’s best-known stars, said her heart breaks for Fatma — but she finds it harder to sympathize with Ghofrane and Rahma. She also stresses the importance of accountability for Tunisians who have joined such groups.
Hamrouni, who had a difficult childhood herself, said she both recognizes where she went wrong as a mother, and that her mistakes don’t justify her daughters’ decisions.
If Fatma ever lives with her, there will be no more hitting, said Hamrouni. “I will teach her right from wrong but let her make her choices.”