Sisters Miriam and Hasna in Dina Amer’s film You Resemble Me
You resemble me follows two sisters Miriam and Hasna as they navigate the rough outskirts of Paris and a tumultuous home life. When the foster care system separates the two, Hasna falls into an identity crisis.
Unsure of who she is, she becomes vulnerable to exploitation by the system and people around her. From this emerges a touching and gritty picture of the real life of Hasna Ait Boulahcen.
She was once proclaimed to be Europe’s first female suicide bomber, after dying in a police raid on a flat used by the perpetrators of terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015. Media reported she had blown herself up. As it turned out, she didn’t—and had cried to the police for help.
Journalist Dina Amer said she wanted to tell this story after herself reporting the wrong information. This film is her powerful directorial debut.
It’s crafted from over 300 hours of interviews Amer conducted with Boulachen’s family and friends. Amer wants to give voice to migrants forced both to the margins of society and the centre of a culture war.
The film has a raw and naturalistic feel. The story can sometimes feel simplistic, or bare bones, and the characters at times seem to be pushing themselves toward the film’s conclusion. But their compelling performances and rich emotional complexity carry it well.
You Resemble Me is a rare and profound depiction of the real people behind media sensationalism and lies. It tells the true, rather than the conventional and reactionary, story of Boulahchen.
You Resemble Me is in cinemas from Friday 3 February
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