''You Resemble Me'' is a 2021 internationally co-produced

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, directed by

Dina Amer Dina Amer is an Egyptian-American film director, writer, producer and journalist. Biography Amer was born and raised in the United States. Amer's work has been published by ''The New York Times'', ''CNN'', and ''VICE''. In 2011, she received t ...

in her directorial debut, from a screenplay by Amer and Omar Mullick. It stars Lorenza Grimaudo, Ilonna Grimaudo, Mouna Soualem,

Sabrina Ouazani Sabrina Ouazani (born 6 December 1988) is a French actress of Algerian descent. She is best known internationally for her performance as Frida in ''Games of Love and Chance'' and as Charlotte Ben Smires in Netflix's hit rom-com series ''The Hook ...

, Dina Amer, Alexandre Gonin,

Grégoire Colin Grégoire Colin (born 25 July 1975) is a French actor. Career Grégoire started acting on the French stage at age 12. He first caught the eye of critics in the 1992 Agnieszka Holland's psychological family drama ''Olivier, Olivier'' when he was ...

and

Zinedine Soualem Zinedine Soualem (born 17 April 1957) is a French actor. He has appeared in at least five films directed by Cédric Klapisch. Personal life Soualem is Algerian by ancestry, and was at one point married to the actress Hiam Abbass Hiam Abba ...

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

Spike Jonze Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze began his ca ...

Riz Ahmed Rizwan Ahmed (; ; born ) is a British actor and rapper. As an actor, he has won an Emmy Award and has received nominations for a Golden Globe and three British Independent Film Awards, and as a rapper he has won an Academy Award for the short ...

and

Alma Har'el Alma Har'el ( he, עלמה הראל) is an Israeli-American music video and film director. She is best known for her 2019 feature film debut '' Honey Boy'', for which she won a Directors Guild of America Award. Her 2011 documentary '' Bombay Bea ...

serve as executive producers on the film. It had its world premiere at the

78th Venice International Film Festival The 78th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 1 to 11 September 2021. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho was appointed as the President of the Jury, marking the first time a South Korean director has been picked as the festiv ...

in the

Venice Days The Giornate degli Autori or simply the Giornate, formerly also known in English as Venice Days, is an independent film festival section held in parallel to and in association with the Venice Film Festival. It is modeled on the Directors' Fortnight ...

section on September 8, 2021. It was released in the United States on November 4, 2022.

Plot

When two sisters are torn apart, the eldest struggles to find her identity.

Cast

* Lorenza Grimaudo as Young Hasna * Ilonna Grimaudo as Young Mariam * Mouna Soualem as Adult Hasna *

as Adult Hasna #2 * Dina Amer as Adult Hasna #3 * Alexandre Gonin as Abdelhamid *

as Foster Father *

as Army Officer * Agnès de Tyssandier as Foster Mother * Sana Sri as Amina

Production

worked as a reporter for

Vice News Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice News was create ...

, and reported on the

2015 Saint-Denis raid The 2015 Saint-Denis raid was a police raid which became a shootout between at least one hundred French police and soldiers and suspected members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, S ...

, in which it was later found that the police report that Hasna Aït Boulahcen was a

suicide bomber A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...

, was false. Boulachen's family was contacted by multiple journalists, but they chose to speak with Amer, who over the course of several years conducting 360 hours of interviews, with Boulahcen's family and friends, to write the screenplay and make it as accurate as possible. Amer wanted the film not to excuse Boulahcen's choice, but to explore

radicalization Radicalization (or radicalisation) is the process by which an individual or a group comes to adopt increasingly views in opposition to a political, social, or religious status quo. The ideas of society at large shape the outcomes of radicalizat ...

and how she got there and prevent others from falling into the same traps. Amer walked away from a deal with a major studio in order to maintain her vision, as financiers preferred for the film to be a documentary.

Release

It had its world premiere at the

in the

section on September 8, 2021. It was released in the Middle East in September 2022, by Front Row Filmed Entertainment. It was released in the United States on November 4, 2022, by Willa Productions. It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on February 3, 2023, by Modern Films.

Awards

The film has been well received in international film festivals. It won the Audience Award at the Red Sea Festival. It also won an unprecedented four awards at REC Tarragona, including the CineClub Jury Prize, the Young Jury Prize, and the Audience Award.

Reception

References

External links

* {{Spike Lee 2021 drama films 2021 films American drama films French drama films Egyptian drama films 2021 directorial debut films Films produced by Spike Lee 2020s American films 2020s French films