Sisterhood

Nora El Hourch makes an unforgettable impression with her energetic feature film debut Sisterhood. The more provocative original French title of the film is: HLM Pussy. That title gives a better picture of the context of the film, but for the unsuspecting Dutch cinema visitor it may evoke strange associations. Amina, Djeneba and Zineb are three 15-year-old friends who are inseparable. They are dismissed by a number of young classmates as the crazy one (Amina), the brute (Djeneba) and the nun (Zineb). These insults hardly affect them. On social media they choose a powerful and self-assured description for themselves: HLM Pussy. In France, HLM stands for 'habitation à loyer modéré' – a housing project for low incomes – and like the latter, it is a way for teenagers to take control of their sexuality in an environment where the boys around them often have bad intentions. When Zineb is harassed by Zak at a party, the girls decide to take action. Unnoticed, they make a video of Zak's groping and post it the next day on Insta under the account name HLM Pussy. Then all hell breaks loose and they get into a flurry of unintended developments.