Sisterhood

Nora el Hourch, a Parisian filmmaker of Moroccan origin, surprised the film world with her debut at the last Toronto Film Festival. Her first film of hers, 'Sisterhood', stands as one of the most notable revelations of the year in French cinematography. Nora's talent had already been glimpsed in her short film 'Quelques secondes' (2015), presented at the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Festival. In her first feature film, Nora continues to explore the reality of youth , focusing on three teenagers who fight to live in freedom in a context that is adverse to them.

The plot of 'Sisterhood' develops around a video published on social networks that exposes the harassment suffered by one of the protagonists. Faced with constant threats, the friends must decide whether to delete the video to protect themselves or continue fighting for justice. Amina, Djeneba and Zineb, played by Léah Aubert, Médina Diarra and Salma Takaline respectively, play three young people who, despite their different social origins, share an unbreakable friendship . When Zineb is harassed by her brother's friend, Amina decides to expose the harasser in a video that circulates on social networks. However, this action not only endangers Zineb's safety, but also the stability of their friendship.

The cast also includes Oscar Al Hafiane as Zakaria, Bérénice Bejo as Chantal, and Mounir Margoum as Ahmed. The cinematography was directed by Maxence Lemonnier, the editing was carried out by Quentin Jourde d'Arzac, and the original music was composed by Clément Tery.

'Sisterhood' is part of the tradition of European coming-of-age films, such as 'Mustang' (Deniz Gamze Ergüven, 2015), 'La mif' (Frédéric Baillif, 2021) or ' Paradise is burning' (Mika Gustafson, 2023). Nora responds in a contemporary way to the rebellion portrayed in 'Hate' ('La haine', 1995) by Mathieu Kassovitz. While the latter film anticipated the violence and sense of community that would define France's future, 'Sisterhood' shows how new generations face social challenges using education, understanding and solidarity as weapons for the change.

The film has been critically acclaimed and awarded at several international festivals, including the Namur International Francophone Film Festival, where it received the Young Jury Prize, and the La Baule, where he won the Press Prize. It has also been selected at festivals such as the Pune International Film Festival in India, and is scheduled to be presented at the BUFF Malmö FF in Sweden and the Ottawa International Film Festival in Canada.