It’s raining and raining and raining. The grey sky dives into the darker sea. However, the Croisette is an explosion of colors. A myriad of umbrellas is hiding fans and stars alike, adding a whole new dimension of mystery that fills the air with excitement and suspense. You never know who can be hidden under a hip waterproof cape or a demodè wide brim. Maybe Leonardo di Caprio going to the premiere of Killers of the Flower Moon? Or Martin Scorsese himself?
This year’s Cannes Film Festival seems fuller than ever and getting a ticket for the movie in competition is challenging the cinephiles’ nerves. However, patients and nerves have been rewarded by the last premiers of the movies in competition. Not only The Zone of Interest by British Jewish director Jonathan Glazer found broad consensus among the critics. But also, About Dry Grasses (Kuru Otlar Üstüne) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who won already a Palm d’Or in 2014 with Winter Sleep. This year there is a strong presence of movies produced in former French colonies and protectorates. Two in particular, directed by women and with female leading characters, deserve a closer look: Banel & Adama by director Ramata-Toulaye Sy and Four Daughters (Les Filles des Olfa) by Kaouther Ben Hania.
Banel & Adama by Ramata-Toulaye Sy
With her first narrative feature Banal & Adama, director Ramata-Toulaye Sy manages to create a sinister love tale of female emancipation trapped in the times of climate change. Banal (Khady Mane) is a young woman living in a village in the north of Senegal with her husband Adama (Mamadou Diallo). They have found each other and are determined to live according to their desires rather than those of the society they are part of. They don’t care about traditions, family pressures, and the village’s expectations. So far, it’s a Romeo and Juliet alike story. Then the picture gets complicated. A terrible drought hits the village, and to some extent, it seems to be Banal’s and Adama’s fault. Life becomes difficult. The first to dry out are the crops, then the cattle die, and shortly after also half of the villagers. All this contaminates the two youngsters’ love. With a powerful metaphor that compares the meteorological change of seasons with those of the heart, Ramata-Toulaye Sy investigates a crucial question affecting humanity. Can we be free while accepting our responsibilities? Towards our roots, the environment, our beloved ones but especially towards ourselves? Through very sharp shots, bright colors, nonprofessional actors, a theatrical touch traceable in the frames, and the dialogue’s tempo, Ramata-Toulaye Sy seems to have found her voice. Somewhere in between the African oral tradition of her ancestors and the French romance of her home country.
Four Daughters by Kaouther Ben Hania
Olfa (Hend Sabri) had four daughters: Eya, Tayssir, Rahma (Nour Karoui), and Ghofrane (Ichraq Matar). Only two are left. And what about the others? Somewhere in between an investigation, a systemic psychotherapy session, a theatre act, a dark comedy, and a neorealist piece we can find Les Filles d’Olfas by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania. Four Daughters is first and foremost a reflection on the passing down of traumas from mother to daughters, as also Olfa herself argues. Therefore, reconstructing from the beginning the existence of these five women and their relation with each other, to violence, their bodies, and the patriarchy is crucial. To do so director Ben Hania opted for a mix of professional actresses and the real people playing themselves. Only by going through this sweet-sour path, at times extremely painful, the spectator can approach the truth. Ghofrane and Rahma Chikahaoui, together with an 8-year-old daughter, are now in jail in Lybia, because of their affiliation with Daesh. Olfa’s daughters wanted to become “holy”, not sluts, as she always warned them. In this lost quest, Rahma and Ghofrane are not alone in the world. Proof is the around 60,000 women and children living in the al-Hawl refugee camp in northern Syria since the dissolution of the Islamic State. Ben Hania’s new movie somehow reminds me of The Matchmaker by Benedetta Argentieri, another film on the topic presented at the Venice Film Festival 2022. Both try to understand how and why so many women ended up trapped in an oblivion, that the system is neither able to face nor to solve.
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