Animalia (film)
| Animalia | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| French | Parmi nous |
| Literally | Among Us |
| Directed by | Sofia Alaoui |
| Written by | Sofia Alaoui |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Noé Bach |
| Edited by | Héloïse Pelloquet |
| Music by | Amine Bouhafa |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Ad Vitam Distribution |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Countries |
|
| Languages | |
Animalia is a 2023 French-Moroccan science fiction film directed by Sofia Alaoui in her feature directorial debut, based on Alaoui's short film So What If the Goats Die. The movie follows Itto (Oumaïma Barid), a pregnant woman who attempts to reunite with her husband Amine (Mehdi Dehbi) as extraterrestrial occurrences in Morocco southeast of Casablanca cause the country to descend into chaos.
The film had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, on 20 January 2023. The film had a positive reception, with critics particularly praising the direction, the performances of Barid and Dehbi, and the score.[1][2]
Cast
[edit]- Oumaïma Barid as Itto
- Mehdi Dehbi as Amine
- Fouad Oughaou as Fouad
- Souad Khouyi as Hajar
Production
[edit]The principal photography concluded in November 2021 after thirty five days of filming.[3] Animalia is produced by Wrong Films and SRAB Films,[4] and co-produced by ARTE France Cinéma and the Moroccan companies Jiango Films and Dounia Productions.[5] The film was produced under the working title Parmi nous (lit. 'Among Us').[6] International sales are handled by Totem Films.[4]
Release
[edit]Animalia had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, on 20 January 2023.[7][8] It was theatrically released in France by Ad Vitam Distribution on 9 August 2023.[9]
Reception
[edit]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 100% approval rating based on 20 critics' reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10.[10]
At the 2023 Calgary International Film Festival, the film won the award for Best International Feature Film.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ Khairy, Wael (2 March 2023). "The Oneness of All Things: On Sofia Alaoui's Animalia". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ Kiang, Jessica (20 January 2023). "'Animalia' Review: Aliens Invade the Art-house in an Impressively Atmospheric and Enigmatic Feature Debut". Variety. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ Lemercier, Fabien (25 November 2021). "EXCLUSIVE: Sofia Alaoui's Animalia is now in post-production". Cineuropa. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
- ^ a b "Animalia" (in French). Wrong Films. February 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
- ^ Lemercier, Fabien (23 January 2023). "Review: Animalia". Cineuropa. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
- ^ San Frax, Julien (3 August 2023). "Bienvenue au Maroc, dans un film de SF mystique". Causeur (in French). Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Patten, Dominic (7 December 2022). "Sundance Film Festival Lineup Set With Ukraine War, Little Richard, Michael J. Fox, Judy Blume Docs; Pics With Anne Hathaway, Emilia Clarke, Jonathan Majors; More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
- ^ Kudláč, Martin (8 December 2022). "An in-person Sundance returns with a raft of rising European voices". Cineuropa. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
- ^ "Animalia, Les Avantages de voyager en train, Un coup de maître... : les films de la semaine aidés par le CNC" (in French). CNC. 7 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ^ "Animalia". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ^ Aryn Toombs, "Winners of 2023 CIFF competitions unveiled". LiveWire Calgary, 25 September 2023.