access>CINEMA will release the Oscar-nominated docu-drama Four Daughters in Irish cinemas from March 2nd.
In this astonishing and poignant film, director Kaouther Ben Hania (The Man Who Sold His Skin) blends documentary and fiction to tell the story of Olfa and her four daughters. One day, her two eldest daughters disappeared without a trace. To fill their absence, the director calls upon professional actors and sets up an extraordinary film mechanism to try to unveil the story of this family.
Combining direct interviews with re-enactments, this is as much of a documentary about this family and their shared trauma as it is a documentary about the very process of filmmaking. The result is an intimate, yet devastating, journey of hope, rebellion, violence and sisterhood.
Four Daughters premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023, and is nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the upcoming Academy Awards.
Following a sold-out screening at the Dublin International Film Festival on Friday March 1st, Four Daughters will screen in the Light House Cinema in Dublin from Saturday March 2nd. Audiences in Galway will be able to see the film at Pálás from Sunday March 17th. The film will also screen across the access>CINEMA network of arts centres and film clubs over the coming months, including a screening at Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray on Monday May 27th. More screenings will be announced shortly.
SCREENINGS:
Light House Cinema in Dublin, from 2/3/24 – Tickets
Pálás in Galway, from 17/3/24 – Tickets
Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray, 27/5/24 – Tickets
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING:
“★★★★★ [Kaouther Ben Hania] has made something troubling, moving and intensely cathartic” – Jonathan Romney, The Financial Times
“★★★★ Like a kind of cinematic Lego set, Ben Hania takes the building blocks of filmmaking and constructs from them something cathartic, affecting and original” – Philip De Semlyen, Time Out
“★★★★ Ben Hania unravels the complex story through a mixture of interviews and reenactments, some of which are discussed in front of the camera before they are performed” – Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film
“★★★★ Riveting… Dramatic reconstructions of a dark family history […] allow for free exchanges and uncomfortable truths” – Tara Brady, The Irish Times
“Four Daughters takes us into the intimate, inner circle of family ties to tell a larger story of our time. The pain is personal, and the impact is global.’’ – Sharon Waxman, The Wrap
“Rarely does Ben Hania’s film feel exploitative or manipulative. In fact, more than anything, Four Daughters is radical in its honesty and courage” – Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter
“[Four Daughters] is distinct for the sense of intimacy and familiarity it brings to seemingly extraordinary circumstances” – Beatrice Loayza, The New York Times
