Rabat – Feature film “Animalia” by Moroccan-French director Sofia Alaoui has been selected for the official competition of the Sundance Film Festival 2023, which will take place in the United States between January 19 and 29, 2023.
Alaoui took to social media to celebrate her film’s nomination. “So incredibly excited and honored to finally announce that my first feature Animalia will have its World Premiere in the official competition at the Sundance Film Festival,” she enthused.
Alaoui was grateful that she and her team’s hard work paid off, stressing that the film was “made with heart and passion.”
Animalia is a “supernatural drama about the end of the world,” the Moroccan-French director noted. It tells the story of a young pregnant woman who finds “emancipation as aliens land in Morocco,” the organizers of the festival detailed.
Alaoui’s film features under the “World Cinema Dramatic Competition” category of the Sundance Film Festival 2023, which includes a total of 12 films.
The upcoming festivals will not mark Alaoui’s first appearance at the competition, as she won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2021 for her short film “Qu’importe si Les Bêtes Meurent?” (So What if the Goats Die?).
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The short film, which appeared in several national and international film festivals, merges science fiction and suspense set in the Moroccan Atlas mountains.
Alaoui was Born in the Moroccan city of Casablanca to a Moroccan father and a French mother, but grew up in China due to her father’s diplomat role, Screen Daily indicated.
After discovering her passion for filmmaking, Alaoui began her quest for a career in film directing and joined the International Film School of Paris (Eicar). She soon began making short films, particularly documentaries.
Screen Daily added that Alaoui decided to move back to Morocco in 2016. “In France, it’s hard to get free from the box industry professionals want to put Arabs inside … So I decided to move to Rabat, where I could make films that challenge the white male gaze,” Alaoui noted.
