How far is it from New York to Casablanca? Bouchra, a 35-year-old Moroccan queer coyote and professional filmmaker, spends hours on the phone with her mother. Between them lies far more than an Atlantic Ocean — there are silences, traumas, and deeply buried repressions. The feature-length debut by Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani employs 3D animation as a vehicle for an intimate essay on affection.
In New York, Bouchra, a queer filmmaker and anthropomorphic coyote, is struggling to write the screenplay for her autobiographical film. A phone call to her mother in Casablanca serves as the starting point, both for the character and for the film itself, which is built entirely around moments like this: text messages, conversations on dates, letters, and more real-life phone calls between family, friends, and acquaintances of Meriem Bennani, who co-directs with Orian Barki. Through the film-within-a-film device, which combines 3D animation, documentary style and live action, reminiscent of Ralph Bakshi’s early career, Bouchra is absorbing, intimate, entertaining, and erotic, focusing on the complex yet deeply moving relationship between mother and daughter.
Falcão Nhaga
