feature    108’    France, Germany    2025

​

Fatima, 17, the youngest of three daughters, treads carefully as she searches for her own path, grappling with emerging desires, her attraction to women, and her loyalty to her caring French-Algerian family. Starting university in Paris, she dates, makes friends, and explores a whole new world, all while confronting a timeless and heartrending dilemma: How can one stay true to oneself when reconciling different parts of one’s identity feels impossible?

 

Cast & Crew

​

Director: Hafsia Herzi

Writers: Fatima Daas, Hafsia Herzi

Starring: Nadia Melliti, Park Ji-min, Amina Ben Mohamed

Producers: Julie Billy, Naomi Denamur

Cinematographer: Jérémie Attard

Music: Amine Bouhafa 

​

Festivals & Awards

​

Queer Palm, Best Actress – Cannes FF

Locarno FF

Toronto IFF

​

Reviews

​

An affecting lead performance from newcomer Nadia Melliti.

​

– Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

 

With The Little Sister, one more taboo in Arab cinema – that Islamic faith and queerness can find no common ground in a woman’s life – is broken.

​

– Deborah Young, The Film Verdict

​

Hafsia Herzi

​

Hafsia Herzi is an actress, screenwriter and director. She gained international recognition for her debut role in The Secret of the Grain, which earned her the César Award for Most Promising Actress and the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the Venice Film Festival. In 2025, she won the César Award for Best Actress for her role in Borgo by Stéphane Demoustier. As a filmmaker, Herzi has directed and written several features exploring family, intimacy and social identity including The Little Sister.