Life on the CAPS – Trilogy

Meriem Bennani
Morocco, Switzerland | 2022 | 75 min
Languages : Arabic, English, French
Subtitles : French, English

What if science allowed us to teleport; what would become of the refugees? This is precisely what Meriem Bennani imagines in the films of this trilogy that sample hybrid images. Stranded on an island in the middle of the Atlantic and surveilled by an American militia, the exiles of this strange dystopia grow younger before our very eyes and worship the figure of a pop crocodile.

Through a rapid montage of eclectic pop images, Meriem Bennani depicts life on CAPS, a fictional island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to which, in the near future, wealthy countries teleport illegal immigrants. While the filmmaker breaks formal boundaries – whirling documentary footage, parody advertisements, reality show clips and TikTok videos together in a playful blender – it is to explore, through the lens of dystopia, how the question of national borders might evolve in the future. The artist/filmmaker uses her future predictions to address very contemporary issues: global population flows, the rapid evolution of new technologies, transhumanism and religious fanaticism. The multicultural atmosphere of this sprawling collage adopts a paramilitary tone to honour the crocodile icon worshipped by a sect that is steadily gaining followers. To follow the crocodile cult, choose the new age you identify with – but most importantly, subscribe!

Raphaëlle Pireyre

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