# Kaouther Ben Hania

Kaouther Ben Hania, also written Kaouther Ben Henia or Kaouther Benhenia (Arabic: كوثر بن هنية), is a Tunisian film director. Her 2017 film Beauty and the Dogs was selected as the Tunisian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. Her 2020 film The Man Who Sold His Skin was nominated for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. Her 2024 film Four Daughters was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at 96th Academy Awards.

## Biography

Kaouther Ben Hania was born in Sidi Bouzid. She studied at the Ecole des Arts et du Cinéma (EDAC) in Tunisia, then studied at La Fémis and the Sorbonne in Paris.
She studied from 2002 to 2004 at the Tunis School of Arts and Cinema. During this training she directed several short films, one of which, La Breche, was noticed. In 2003, she also participated in a feature film writing workshop funded by Euromed. In 2004, she continued her training at La Fémis, first at the summer university and then in 2004-2005.
In 2006, she directed another short film, Moi, ma sœur et la chose, inspired by the short story Le Jeune homme and l’enfant et la question by Mohsen Ben Hania. She then worked for Al Jazeera Documentary Channel until 2007.
Then she directed several feature films, distinguished in various festivals, while resuming her studies in 2007-2008 at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University. The first of these three feature films is Le Challat de Tunis, released in 2014, a social satire with an ironic tone, while addressing, like the following works, the relationships between women and men. In 2017, her feature film La Belle et la Meute was selected in the Un Certain Regard category at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and received a standing ovation during its screening.
In 2018, La Belle et la Meute was nominated for the Lumière Award for Best Francophone Film. In the same year, this film was selected by the National Center for Cinema and Image to represent Tunisia at the 2019 Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category. However, it was not among the final nominations. The film L’Homme qui a vendu sa peau was nominated in 2021, making it the first Tunisian film to be selected for the Oscars.
In 2023, her new film Les Filles d’Olfa was selected for the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It won the César Award for Best Documentary Film at the 2024 ceremony.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Writer | Director | Notes |
| 2004 | La Brèche (The Breach) | Yes | Yes | short |
| 2006 | Me, My Sister and the Thing | Yes | Yes | short |
| 2010 | Les imams vont à l’école (Imams Go to School) | Yes | Yes | |
| 2013 | Yed Ellouh (Wooden Hand) | Yes | Yes | |
| 2013 | Glue Skin | | Yes | |
| 2013 | Le Challat de Tunis (Challat of Tunis) | Yes | Yes | |
| 2016 | Zaineb Takrahou Ethelj (Zaineb Hates the Snow) | Yes | Yes | |
| 2017 | Beauty and the Dogs | Yes | Yes | |
| 2018 | Les Pastèques du Cheikh (Sheikh's Watermelons) | Yes | Yes | short |
| 2020 | The Man Who Sold His Skin | Yes | Yes | |
| 2021 | I and The Stupid Boy (14 minutes, 22nd in the Women's Tales series ) | | Yes | short |
| 2023 | Four Daughters | Yes | Yes | |

### As an actress

* 2014 : The Challat of Tunis

## Distinctions
### Decoration

Knight of the National Order of Merit (Tunisia, 2016)

### Awards

* Rencontres Films Femmes Méditerranée de Marseille 2013: Audience Award for Peau de colle
* Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur 2014: Bayard d’Or for Best First Work (Émile Cantillon Award) for Le Challat de Tunis
* Festival International du Film de Femmes de Salé 2014: Special Mention for Le Challat de Tunis
* Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage 2016: Tanit d’Or for Zaineb n’aime pas la neige
* Cannes Film Festival 2017: Best Sound Creation Award (initiated by La Semaine du Son and awarded for the first time) in the Un Certain Regard selection for La Belle et la Meute
* Festival du Cinéma Méditerranéen de Bruxelles 2017: Special Jury Prize for La Belle et la Meute
* Stockholm International Film Festival 2020: Best Screenplay for L’Homme qui a vendu sa peau
* Cannes Film Festival 2023: Citizenship Award, L’Œil d’Or (ex aequo), and Positive Cinema Award for Les Filles d’Olfa
* César Awards 2024: Best Documentary for Les Filles d’Olfa

### Nominations and Selections

* Cannes Film Festival 2017: In competition in the Un Certain Regard selection for La Belle et la Meute
* Lumières Awards 2018: Best Francophone Film for La Belle et la Meute
* Oscars 2019: Preselection to represent Tunisia for Best Foreign Language Film for La Belle et la Meute
* Oscars 2021: Selection to represent Tunisia for Best Foreign Language Film for L’Homme qui a vendu sa peau
* Magritte Awards 2022: Best Foreign Film in Coproduction for L’Homme qui a vendu sa peau
* Cannes Film Festival 2023: Official selection, in competition for the Palme d’Or for Les Filles d’Olfa