HLM Pussy

Nora El Hourch

DISTRIBUTION

Three close friends—Amina, Djeneba, and Zineb—post a video on social media in which they expose a sexual assailant. But completely unexpectedly, this puts a lot of strain on their friendship. Standing up for yourself and your friends can therefore have complex consequences—especially in a world where sexual violence, social differences, and cultural identity play a significant role.

Amina, Djeneba, and Zineb, three 15-year-olds from Paris, are best friends. They go to school together every day and are always together in their free time, taking photos and videos for their social media accounts and discussing their dating lives.

One day, Zineb is subjected to unwanted sexual behavior by Zak. Amina and Djeneba want to call out this incident and come up with a plan. They secretly film Zak crossing a boundary with Zineb and post the video online. But this will have major consequences, both for their own personal growth and for their friendship.

With her debut film, director Nora El Hourch aims to shed light on the vague concept of “boundaries.” What exactly is a boundary, how do you set one, and when is it crossed? There is a strong desire for justice among these young girls, especially in the era of #MeToo. Major themes such as sexuality, friendship, and racism are explored in “HLM Pussy” in a refreshing way, inviting viewers to embrace sisterhood with young women around the world.