Four Daughters (2023)

This movie, along with 20 Days in Mariupol, were short listed for an Oscar in two categories: Best International Movie and Best Documentary. That means that Tunisia and Ukraine picked these movies as their submission for consideration, which is a great feat for a documentary to achieve. They both made the nomination, but only in the documentary category. They are competing against each other, along with three other documentaries from countries across the globe. This is an intimate attempt to unravel what attracts women to ISIS and radical Islam. Olfa Hamrouni has four daughters: Eya, Tayssir, Ghofrane, and Rahma. The two eldest, Ghofrane and Rahma, disappeared from their home years ago, radicalized to run away and join ISIS. As Olfa and her youngest two daughters recount the memories of their lives before and after they left, they are also describing the realities for women who live in rigid patriarchal societies. Olfa, Eya, and Tayssir are around to tell their side of the story. Ghofrane and Rahma are not, so two actresses fill their space in the film. Together they dissect the worlds and histories that have built them and bring to the forefront of their minds the subconscious yearning for all women to experience control over their lives. The thing most memorable to me is that these women experience abuse of the kind that is for certain not acceptable religiously, but is so commonly reported in restrictive patriarchal societies, regardless of the reigious framework.