SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details of the Vanderpump Rules Season 10 Reunion finale.
19.05.2023 - 06:43 / variety.com
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Oscar-nominated Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania (“Beauty and the Dogs,” “The Man Who Sold His Skin”) is back in Cannes with “Four Daughters” a powerful drama that mixes documentary and fiction to delve into the story of Tunisia’s Olfa Hamrouni who rose to international prominence in April 2016 when she publicized the radicalization of her two teenage daughters who had left Tunisia to fight with ISIS. The film, which is the only Arab entry in competition, stars Egyptian-Tunisian star Hend Sabri in the lead role of an actor who must play Hamrouni and gets coaching from the real Olfa on how to prepare for the role. Ben Hania spoke to Variety about the bold choice she made.
What drew you to want to dig deep into Olfa’s story? So it was in 2016, and there was media interest around this story and a lot of similar stories. And I heard the mother giving an interview on the radio. The way she was talking, it was fascinating for me. I told myself she could really be a movie character because she was so full of flaws and contradictions. I thought all these elements could make a great story. And the story of her daughter was like a mystery for all of us. So I think my first desire was to understand why. Then of course there’s the very particular hybrid documentary and fiction narrative form you chose Yes, so I started the shooting in 2016. I shot fly-on-the-wall documentary style, with the mother and the two youngest daughters at their home. But it wasn’t great because what was more interesting for me was what had already happened in the past. So I stopped everything and I told myself: “Let’s put this story aside until I find an interesting way to tell it.” Then, during the
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details of the Vanderpump Rules Season 10 Reunion finale.
Buckle up, Bravo fans! The bombshell season 10 reunion of Vanderpump Rules may be coming to a close — but there’s still plenty more revelations to come regarding Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss‘ affair.
Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her and another woman at his home in 1969 sued him Thursday under a new California law that suspends the statute of limitations on sex abuse claims. In her lawsuit, Victoria Valentino, 80, says she was an actress and singer 54 years ago, when she met Cosby, now 85. The comedian and actor later approached her at a Los Angeles café, where he spotted her crying over the recent drowning death of her 6-year-old son.
Raquel Leviss is telling her side of the story.
Andy Cohen knows now to double-check with Kelly Ripa about what she’s doing right before he sends over some explicit content!
Raquel Leviss and Tom Sandoval did whatever they could to hide their affair from everyone, including kicking out one of her and Scheana Shay’s friends from a hotel room during the 37-year-old’s wedding weekend!
Retracing their steps. Scheana Shay reflected on the signs from her wedding weekend that now clearly point at Raquel Leviss and Tom Sandoval‘s affair.
Two films by Arab women directors are sharing the L’Oeil d’or (Golden Eye) prize for the best documentary in Cannes. Four Daughters (Les Filles d’Olfa) by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania and The Mother of All Lies (La Mère de tous les mensonges) by Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir were announced as the winners at a joint ceremony this morning at the Palais in Cannes.
CANNES: Docudramas are inherently difficult to master. You’re attempting to meld real-life footage or people with actors and, often, fictionalized accounts that may substantially differ from the truth.
is taking aim at the show's namesake. On part one of the Bravo series' highly-anticipated reunion special, much of the cast pushed back at Lisa Vanderpump for appearing to side with Tom Sandoval.The first episode of the reunion came amid Scandoval, the fan-made name for the months-long affair Sandoval had with Raquel Leviss during his nine-year-long relationship with Ariana Madix.Vanderpump entered the «much-needed» reunion prepared to «sort it out» and get to the truth, even complimenting Madix's «revenge dress.» Later in the reunion, though, Vanderpump pushed back at a couple of comments Madix made.When host Andy Cohen asked if a lack of intimacy played a role in the deterioration of Madix and Sandoval's relationship, Madix replied, «No, I think he caused the divide in the relationship because he was f**king other people.»Vanderpump noted that «other people» implies more than just Leviss, and Madix insisted, «He's f**ked more than Raquel.»Later, Vanderpump's business relationship with Sandoval came up, and Cohen asked Madix if that continued relationship would cause her to cut off contact with the matriarch.«We just won’t be as close,» Madix said, as a shocked Vanderpump exclaimed, «Hold on a second! What do you expect me to do?»Vanderpump went on to point out her long-term support of Madix, but Madix insisted she'd have a hard time confiding in Vanderpump in the future.
Not holding back! Ariana Madix revealed a heated conversation with Raquel Leviss during part one of the Vanderpump Rules reunion.
Kaouther Ben Hania’s powerful drama “Four Daughters” which mixes documentary and fiction to tell the story of Tunisian mother whose two elder daughters joined ISIS is scoring a slew of sales following its well-received Cannes competition premiere. French company The Party Films Sales has sealed deals on “Four Daughters” for: Benelux (Cineart); Spain (Caramel Films); Italy (I Wonder); Switzerland (Trigon); Sweden (Triart); Denmark (Camera Film); Norway (Arthaus); Finland (Cinemanse); Poland (New Horizons); Greece (Ama Films); former Yougoslavia (Discovery) and Turkey (Bir Film). Rights to the film for multiple other territories are under negotiations, the company said.
Lise Pedersen Moving towards a more equitable and accountable curation in film programming and selection processes, ethical representation in storytelling and the challenges posed by the lack of awareness and accountability was at the heart of a panel discussion at Cannes Docs, the Cannes Film Market event dedicated to documentary film, on May 20. Panelists included Egyptian director and producer Nada Riyadh, British-Chinese writer and director Paul Sng, Brazilian producer Yolanda Maria Barroso and Swedish producer Malin Hüber; it was moderated by the BFI’s Race Equality Lead Rico Johnson-Sinclair. Opening on a positive note, Riyadh said that, “as an Arab woman,” she welcomed the presence in the official selection at Cannes this year of docs by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania (“Four Daughters,” main competition) and Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir (“The Mother of All Lies,” Un Certain Regard), even though “in the real world I still get asked whether I do docs or real films,” she added with a smile.
Ariana Madix is making a move. On Monday, the star was spotted moving boxes out of the home she owns with her ex, Tom Sandoval, following his cheating scandal with Raquel Leviss.Madix was dressed casually for the big day, wearing leggings, sneakers and a sweatshirt as she carried boxes to a moving truck.She posted about the move on her Instagram Story, smiling as she posed in front of her boxes.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Kirsten Niehuus, CEO at Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, which funds films and TV series production in the Berlin region, and Simone Baumann, managing director of German Films, which promotes and supports the release of German films abroad, welcomed a wide array of guests to their garden party at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. Three Medienboard-funded films are in this year’s Competition: Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters,” Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner’s “Club Zero,” and U.S. helmer Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City.” Niehuus told Variety: “Those are three very different productions, but it shows the spectrum [of films] that Medienboard supports.” Tunisian films, like “Four Daughters,” need international co-production funding to get made, she said, and “we believe in world cinema, so were very happy [to back it].” Hausner is “one of the most impressive female filmmakers [in the world], and I think there should be more female filmmakers on the Croisette and every other ‘A’ festival,” she said. “Asteroid City” is “the best of American arthouse filmmaking; very stylish, with a great narrative – so we love it,” she said.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Kaouther Ben Hania, the Oscar-nominated director of “The Man Who Sold His Skin” whose latest film “Four Daughters” is competing at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, will next direct “Mimesis,” an epic love story set in Tunisia. While the plot is under wraps, the story is set in two different periods, the 1990s and the 1940s, paying tribute to cinema and Arab-Muslim cultural heritage. It’s being produced by Nadim Cheikhrouha at Tanit Films, who produced Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters” and her previous film “The Man Who Sold His Skin” which world premiered at Venice where it won best actor for Yahya Mahayni and was nominated for best international film at the Oscars in 2021.
Using actors to bring to life story elements within documentary film is becoming a more widespread practice, if one that’s still viewed with skepticism by some purists.
Jessica Kiang Late on in Kaouther Ben Hania’s compelling, ambitious hybrid “Four Daughters,” Olfa Hamrouni — the film’s focus, its fixation and its most charismatically contradictory character — strokes a purring, heavily pregnant ginger cat. Sometimes, she tells us, a cat will be so scared for her babies that she eats them. It’s Olfa’s covert acknowledgement that her own misguided protective urge, forged by her hard history with men and mother alike, might have contributed to her life’s great, rupturing tragedy: when, in 2015, the elder two of her four girls ran away to join ISIS. But it also recalls one of her earlier to-camera segments, when she described her daughters, as though shielding herself from the pain of the real with the language of fable, as having been “devoured by the wolf.” So which is it: Were Ghofran and Rahma, 16 and 15 at the time of their disappearance, eaten up by their cat-mother or consumed by the predatory wolves of religious fundamentalism, cultural indoctrination, ISIS itself?
William Earl After months of relative silence on #Scandoval, “Vanderpump Rules” star Ariana Madix has opened up about the cheating scandal that rocked reality television. For the uninitiated, Madix’s nearly decade-long relationship with co-star Tom Sandoval blew up in March when it was revealed he had been having a months-long affair with her best friend and their mutual co-star, Raquel Leviss. A recently taped new finale for the series’ 10th season — which addresses how the friend group reacted to learning about the affair — aired on May 17, and was followed by Madix’s first sit-down interview on the topic with Andy Cohen on his “Watch What Happens Live” show.
, Tom Sandoval races over to Tom Schwartz's apartment and cries his eyes out. He's hysterical.