Animalia is a captivating film debut from a Moroccan-French director, Sofia Alaoui. Through this film, we are invited to live the life of a Moroccan Muslim woman through the eyes of the pregnant Itto. Coming from a poor family, Itto married into the rich, further complicating her position as a person.
A mysterious disaster struck her homeland and separated Itto from her husband. While everyone cowered in fear, Itto had to set on a trudging journey to find her husband. Itto’s footsteps turned out to be more extraordinary than expected, as her journey showed a marriage of the real and the unreal, of the worldly and the spiritual.
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World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award, Sundance Film Festival 2023