A few days before the French release of her first feature film, Animalia, the Franco-Moroccan director Sofia Alaoui talked to us about her project to film the changing face of her native country using fiction that borrows as much from documentaries as from genre films. The interview was streamed live from Casablanca, where she settled eight years ago.
Awarded the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival (Utah) in January, Animalia follows the story of an apocalyptic road trip going from one surprise to the next, between "new money" Morocco and the Atlas mountains of the Imazighen (from where the filmmaker comes from). A chance for the 33-year-old to question the weight of religion and money in Moroccan society.
Animalia will be released throughout the Arab world, from Qatar to Morocco. But it was important for me not to be provocative in order to be able to reach people who have a very dogmatic relationship with religion. Moreover, the character of Fouad, who doesn't believe in God, was inspired by encounters I had after the screening of my first short film [So What if the Goats Die, Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Festival in 2020 and César in 2021] in the Atlas Mountains... In Morocco, there are a lot of people who don't believe in God.
It's true. Several decision-makers in the film's life told me: "We're less interested in the bourgeoisie than in shepherds. I think it's a very serious problem because it reflects a form of Orientalism. What does this mean? Are we Arabs not allowed to film our bourgeoisie? Should our films only be about the countryside? I went to the French lycée in Casablanca, live in this big city, and rub shoulders more often with this bourgeois class in my day-to-day life. I want to question it and show it. The nouveaux riches, whose families quickly came by money, are attracted by all that glitters and are heavy consumers. They are also very pious and traditionalist. We're a long way from the image of Iranian or Egyptian-style bourgeois from 50 years ago, with men smoking cigarettes and speaking English.
There's a very large, very heavy chandelier we had fun over-interpreting using a long, slow tracking shot. It's as if, by observing it so often, we became enraptured by it. This house is a combination of three sets: The first for the garden, the second for the lake view, and the third for the interior. I wanted bling and lush vegetation in the middle of an arid landscape. You'll find this kind of property in every big city. On the one hand, there's the underground Casablanca you see in the movies and, on the other, the Casablanca with palm trees. One of the most exclusive districts in the city's south is called "California." Legend has it that when American officers came here in 1942, they found it very similar to the Californian climate.
You have 46.73% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.