You Resemble Me

Dina Amer’s vibrant and heart wrenching debut is a dramatic adaptation of the life of ‘France’s first female suicide bomber’. Probing far deeper than the sensationalist reactions in the media, Amer innovatively blends elements of psychological thriller, social realist drama and investigative documentary to tell an energetic story of cultural and intergenerational trauma. Two sisters grow up in poverty and neglect on the outskirts of Paris. After they are torn apart, the eldest, Hasna, struggles to find her identity, leading to a choice that shocks the world.

‘I got a tip as to where Hasna’s family lived, and I went there… they kept me there outside the door for, like, 20 minutes. Eventually, she let me in. She showed me a picture of her daughter as a child. And she said, “This woman with the niqab that they’re showing all over the news on every channel—that’s not my daughter. This is my daughter.” Everything changed when it was framed in that way: Like, how did that happen? How did that girl become the woman in the news, in the niqab, who was called the first female suicide bomber?’

Director Dina Amer, from an interview on vice.com by Drew Schwartz.