Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki
Italy, Morocco, United States | 2025 | 82 min
Swiss Premiere
Languages : Darija, French, English
Subtitles : French, English

Bouchra is a young coyote, filmmaker and lesbian. In her next film, she wants to tell the story of coming out to her mother, surrounded by her friends. A sophisticated visual oddity of disturbing vulnerability, exploring alienation in silence and the weight of taboo. A luminous declaration of love to all mothers.

Also screening at Cinéma Spoutnik from May 7.
Bouchra is a young coyote who makes films. She grew up in Casablanca and now lives in New York. She’s lesbian. After coming out to her mother, and the silence that ensued, she decided to make a film about it. The scenes of Bouchra the filmmaker and her fictional double then intertwine in a daring autobiographical animated essay. A visual oddity that blends the voices of her loved ones, interpretations from her family, audio recordings of discussions with her mother and photorealistic 3D imagery that brings to life her host of anthropomorphic animals that populate these sublime Moroccan landscapes. But make no mistake, the ultra-sophisticated visual treatment leaves room for a disarming emotion. From this complex system emerges, without warning, an immense vulnerability that pierces a dense narrative which simultaneously explores the alienation of silence around homosexuality, the debt of taboo, and the multiple influences – social, cultural and geographical – that shape our lives. Having premièred at Toronto, this sophisticated art film finds its place in that fertile interspace at the borders of testimony and narration. A powerful aesthetic tour de force and a sublime declaration of love to all mothers.
 
Bastien Bento
Orian Barki
Bouchra, 2025
2 Lizards, 2020
Rico Nasty, 2019
Destiny, 2016
Shooting Days, 2008

Meriem Bennani
Bouchra, 2025
Cursed Objects, 2022
2 Lizards, 2020
Life on the CAPS – Trilogy, 2018-2022
Siham & Hafida, 2017
Ghariba, 2017
Fly, 2016
Gradual Kingdom, 2015-2016

Screenings and tickets


Friday 24 April 2026 20:30
Grande Salle, Nyon
In the presence of the director


Saturday 25 April 2026 18:30
Usine à Gaz 2, Nyon


Photography
John Michael Boling
Editing
Orian BarkiMeriem Bennani
Sound
Taul Katz
Production
Meriem Bennani2 LizardsOrian Barki2 LizardsOctavia Peissel
Sales contact
Indiana Perrierindiana@luckynumber.fr

Focus Meriem Bennani

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