Animalia

Arab Feature Narrative Films

Animalia

Genre:
Science Fiction

Year:
2023

Duration:
90 minutes

Rating:
18+

Screenplay: Sofia Alaoui

Cast: Oumaima Barid, Mehdi Dehbi, Fouad Oughaou

Cinematography: Noé Bach

Editing: Héloïse Pelloquet

Production: Wrong Films, Srab Films, Dounia Production, Jiango Films, Margaux Lorier, Toufik Ayadi, Christophe Barral, Dounia Benjelloun Mezian, Sofia Alaoui

Awards: - World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Creative Vision - Sundance Film Festival - Utah, The United States – 2023 - Special Mention: New Voices New Visions Award - Palm Springs International Film Festival - California, The United States – 2023 - International Narrative Feature Award - Calgary International Film Festival - Calgary, Canada – 2023

Début Status: Jordanian Première

Synopsis

Itto, a young woman from a modest rural background, is slowly adapting to the Moroccan privileged codes of her husband’s family. But when supernatural events put the country in a state of emergency, Itto finds herself separated from her husband and new family. Alone, pregnant and looking for her way back, she finds emancipation.

Director’s biography

Sofia Alaoui was born in Casablanca to a Moroccan father and a French mother. After graduating high school in Casablanca, she moved to Paris to study cinema. In 2017, she returned to Morocco to develop her own production company, Jiango Films. She has directed both documentary and fiction shorts that have been selected at many festivals. Her last film, “So What if the Goats Die” won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020, and César for best short fiction film in 2021. She has directed a short film for 20th Century Fox, "The Lake”, which is broadcasting on Hulu. "Animalia” is her first feature film.