Oumaïma Barid appears in Animalia by Sofia Alaoui. Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Sofia Alaoui (director)
Animalia, a French-Moroccan-Qatari co-production that premiered at last month’s Sundance Film Festival, opens with an intriguing set-up. A deeply pious pregnant woman of modest origins, Itto (Oumaïma Barid), looks forward to a day of quiet when her rich husband Amine (Mehdi Dehbi) and his family go away on business.
On the same day, a mysterious state of emergency is declared nationwide. Amine remains stuck somewhere on the other side of Morocco, while Itto is left alone in…
