Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, 46, makes history as the first Arab woman to receive two Oscar nominations in a decade. Her latest work, "Four Daughters", a docu-fiction hybrid, has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2024 Academy Awards. The film chronicles the journey of Olfa Hamrouni and her daughters Rahma and Ghofrane who join an extremist group in Libya, with Tunisian actress Hend Sabry portraying Hamrouni in re-enactment scenes. Ben Hania's previous nomination came in 2021 for "The Man Who Sold His Skin".
The film, which follows the story of Olfa Hamrouni and her two daughters who join the Islamic State in Libya, has won a string of awards, including "L'Oeil d'or" at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
Other Arab women directors nominated for Oscars include Palestinian filmmaker Farah Al Nabulsi for "The Present" in 2021 in the Best Short Film category, and Lebanese director Nadine Labaki, nominated for Best International Feature Film in 2019 for "Capharnaum".