Draft:Bouchra

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Bouchra
Directed by
Written by
  • Meriem Bennani[1]
  • Orian Barki[1]
  • Ayla Mrabet[1]
Starring
  • Meriem Bennani[1]
  • Fatim-Zahra Alami[2]
  • Yto Barrada[1]
  • Dounia Berrada[1]
  • Orian Barki[1]
  • Ariana Faye Allensworth[1][3]
CinematographyJohn Michael Boling[4]
Music byFlavien Berger[5]
Production
companies
Distributed byLucky Number (film sales)[3]
Release dates
Running time
  • 73 minutes (original Milan cut)[9]
  • 83 minutes (festival run)[10]
Countries
Languages

Bouchra, originally titled For Aicha, is a 2024 Moroccan-Italian-American adult computer-animated drama film, directed/written by and starring Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki. Commissioned by Milan's Fondazione Prada and animated on the Blender platform, it is the first animated feature produced in Morocco, as well as Bennani and Barki's directorial debut. Bennani voices the titular character—a queer Moroccan coyote in Brooklyn, New York City—in a semi-autobiographical account which chronicles her personal and sexual exploration amid a series of telephone calls with her Casablanca mother.

The film is set in the same universe as 2 Lizards, a web series helmed by Bennani and Barki during the COVID-19 pandemic. Production lasted for two years as part of an art exhibit Bennani created for Prada's hometown facility, and involved a crew of nearly 20 in New York. Live-action footage was used for the backgrounds, while Bouchra and Aicha's on-screen conversations—added in the later stages of production—were taken from Bennani's actual recordings. Several other members of the 2 Lizards team returned for the follow-up, among them composer Flavien Berger. Amid creative struggles in the process, Bennani sought to conceive a story that would resonate with both Western and Middle Eastern audiences.

Bouchra debuted at the Prada premises under its original name, For Aicha, on 31 October 2024. It entered the festival circuit with its September 2025 showings at the Toronto International Film Festival, with Lucky Number handling international sales. It was positively reviewed, with various critics commenting on its LGBTQ+ themes and the styles of its animation and narrative; several compared it to Disney's 2016 film Zootopia and the works of Richard Linklater.

Synopsis

[edit]

Bouchra, a 35-year-old queer Moroccan coyote[2][11] with asthma,[12] works as a filmmaker in Brooklyn, New York City;[13] her mother, Aicha, lives in Casablanca.[11] Bouchra embarks on a journey of exploring herself and her sexual identity during her work on a semi-autobiographical film[1][7][11] set in Morocco,[14] where her character has an affair with another woman and deals with her relatives.[14] Willing to move on with her career, she also yearns for reconciliation with Aicha through a series of telephone calls;[15] this follows up on a coming-out letter she wrote to her parents nine years prior.[11] The storyline involves real and fictional versions of both characters;[16] according to Jace Clayton of 4Columns, "metafictional elements get conveyed via text messages, video calls, visual and sonic puns, a play-within-a-film [where] young animals dress up as vegetables for their school performance, pen-and-ink storyboarding of the scene being shown, and more."[17]

Voice cast

[edit]
  • Meriem Bennani as Bouchra, a coyote working as a filmmaker in Brooklyn.[1][11][13][a] Serving as her voice actor's "alter-ego",[18] Bouchra also has a Moroccan aunt named Yamna, who is middle-aged and single.[19]
    • Fatim-Zahra Alami as "Fictional Bouchra"[2]
  • Yto Barrada as Aicha, a cardiologist who is Bouchra's mother[1][2]
    • Dounia Berrada as "Film Aicha", a painter[1][2]
  • Orian Barki as Yani,[1] a Brooklyn lizard.[13] Yani was formerly one of the unnamed titular characters in Bennani and Barki's web series 2 Lizards.[20]
  • Salima Dhaibi as Lamia, a bear[1][3]
  • Ariana Faye Allensworth as Nikki, a cow[15] who is Bouchra's ex-girlfriend.[1][3] Allensworth had previously voiced an impala in 2 Lizards.[21]

Production

[edit]

"What Orian and I have in common is we look for when something feels true. It's a balance between a certain tenderness and humor that is not trying to be cool or relevant—it just is. That's been our compass for this film, especially as we explore daughterhood and queerness in a North African context, which is often flattened by imported ideas of what 'coming out' should look like."

Meriem Bennani, as quoted by Variety[22]

Bouchra is the first animated feature film to be produced in Morocco,[7] and is also the directorial debut for its creators, Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki.[11] Based in New York City,[16] Bennani and Barki respectively hailed from Casablanca, Morocco and Tel Aviv, Israel.[3] The film is set in the same universe as 2 Lizards,[2][13] an eight-episode web series the creator duo previously helmed during the COVID-19 pandemic;[13] their production company was later named after it.[7]

Bouchra is a semi-autobiographical account of the life of Bennani, who voices the titular character; the phone calls depicted in the scenes were recordings of the actual French-language conversations,[7][9] which also served as research resources[7] and arrived in the later stages of production.[23] Bennani endured creative difficulties during the making of the project, particularly as she struggled to conceive a story that would ideally appeal to both Western and Middle Eastern audiences.[24] As she summarised during the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival screenings, Bouchra constituted "the story of us making the film. Struggling to make the film. And me calling my mom."[4]

Under the title For Aicha, the film was commissioned by the Fondazione Prada of Milan as part of For My Best Family, an art exhibition by Bennani.[9] Family, which also featured a mechanical installation named Sole Crushing, was made over a two-year period[25] and was "her first solo exhibit in an Italian institution."[12] Aided by the Blender animation software,[7] a New York City crew[9] of almost 20 members worked on Aicha under a deadline and budget,[7] with a script that was constantly rewritten during production.[4] Becky Akinyode, who once played a leopard in 2 Lizards,[21] returned as the CGI stylist for Bennani's character.[26]

Utilising the same blend of documentary and animation previously showcased in 2 Lizards became "a major challenge for the [Aicha] team."[27] The "low-lit metropolitan" skylines of Casablanca and Brooklyn were shot in live action, then processed in CGI;[13] the interior sets were fully computer-animated.[4] Bennani and Barki also took visual cues from Chungking Express (1994)[15] and Mulholland Drive (2001).[4] Thanks to the Fondazione Prada's involvement, the animators used clothing designs from its sister firm, Prada, for the characters' wardrobe.[4]

The film's composer, Flavien Berger, was a close friend of Bennani's[5] who had previously scored three episodes of 2 Lizards.[13] His contributions for Aicha were based on his initial perception of the characters, and would eventually bring Who Framed Roger Rabbit to mind for Bennani and Barki.[5]

Themes

[edit]

Akin to the roster of Disney's 2016 film Zootopia,[1][3][15] the characters in Bouchra are anthropomorphic animals.[7] Jared Mobarak of The Film Stage notes that Bouchra's universe "aesthetically presents itself like an R-rated, multi-cultural [version thereof] (without the one-dimensional race allegory) that shifts between English, French, and Arabic. Rather than have a specific rhyme or reason for which characters are which, I imagine this stylistic choice was made to create a remove from reality while also playing with the notion of children's stories using animals as a teaching tool. It probably also helped cajole friends and family to participate by voicing 'themselves.'"[1]

Bennani and Barki's decision to employ all-animal casts in 2 Lizards and Bouchra, writes Carla Tozzi of Italian outlet domus, "proves to be powerful in translating the content of the work outside the box of reality to make it even more open and inclusive."[27] In Bouchra itself, says Lawrence Garcia of In Review Online, it "serves to efface the usual signifiers that one would associate with a film focalized around a character's sexuality—especially when that character is queer."[11]

Garcia compared the voice and dialogue work, and stylistic flourishes, to Richard Linklater's oeuvre; he also found the "long-distance" mother-daughter dynamic reminiscent of Joanna Arnow's i hate myself :) (2015). "Structurally," he added, "Bouchra has a kind of reflexive, meta-fictional aspect to it", referring to the storyboards and clips from the titular character's work in progress.[11] Bouchra's phone-call scenes mirror one with Bennani's lizard character in the precursor web series.[15][21]

The film also touches on views of migration, differentiated from the depictions of Hispanics and Latinos common in American media,[15] as well as issues surrounding communication between family members.[18] In one scene, mother Aicha comments on art's healing tendencies;[27] in another one at the end, one of her daughter's lines—"I am with my best family"—echoes the title of the Prada exhibit it was made for.[18]

During the film, Bouchra's openly-gay identity is at odds with her family's conservative religious beliefs. As Mobarak writes, "Her sexuality is obviously a cultural sticking point—one born from the societal indoctrination of Aicha and her husband's youth and religion. They never disowned their daughter, but they've also never been comfortable handling their shame. Bouchra has unwittingly, silently been forced to hide herself, and it's taken a toll."[1] Alessia Baranello of Italian magazine Lampoon made a similar observation, adding that "cultural barriers remain high and conflict is not eschewed...the discomfort [over Bouchra's coming out] remains unsolvable, without a happy ending."[12] Unless she reconciles with Aicha, says Monita Roy Mohan of Geek Girl Authority, Bouchra and her project will not achieve a "breakthrough".[4]

The word "gay" is not heard until Bouchra and Aicha have dinner together during the closing scenes.[18] At different points in the story, Bouchra also has sex with amphibian and reptile characters.[28] John Lynn of the International Cinephile Society observed the uncompromising tone in the depiction of Bouchra's issues.[15]

Release

[edit]
External media
Images
image icon Creators Bennani and Barki at the New York Film Festival premiere on 27 September 2025. By Dia Dipasupil, courtesy of Getty Images.
Video
video icon The crew's discussion on Bouchra at the New York Film Festival. Official YouTube upload by Film at Lincoln Center (29 September 2025).

"[At the Toronto run,] director Meriem Bennani talked about how much harder it is to get animated films into festivals these days. Coming from the art world, that must be a frustrating realization for Bennani."

Monita Roy Mohan[4]

For Aicha, and its parent exhibit For My Best Family, were mentioned as early as an August 2024 story in Italy's Artribune.[6] The Milan host facility, Fondazione Prada, first screened the original 73-minute cut in its Cinema Godard section[9] between 31 October 2024 and 24 February 2025.[6][b][c] After its Prada run ended, Bennani and Barki animated several minutes of new scenes featuring their own characters (thanks to audience feedback) and the Brooklyn coyote's ex-girlfriend.[26]

In late August 2025, film-sales company Lucky Number acquired the duo's animated feature under its new name, Bouchra.[16] With a new 83-minute runtime,[10] it began its festival run on 5 September,[7] when the Toronto International Film Festival held its North American premiere.[3] There, it became the first animated work to compete in the event's Platform program (during its tenth-anniversary edition).[31] On 27 September,[8] the film made its U.S. debut[10] as a New York Film Festival Currents selection,[15] which prompted Lynn to comment, "[The title's curation status] says a lot; Bouchra isn't chasing the traditional prestige or red-carpet slot but instead combines experimentation and hybridity with the deeply personal."[15]

Reception

[edit]

"...the power of works such as For Aicha lies in the way this special intensity conveys colors of emotion and revelatory moments of intimacy less seen, including queer and other styles and affects, and alternative rhythms of the everyday. In so doing, [creators Bennani and Barki] imagine a curious kind of realism in which communion is more possible, and in so making, the artists create their own suspended moments of social utopia."

Laura McLean-Ferris, concluding her review of the film's original Milan release[13]

Several publications, among them Italian art magazines Mousse and CURA., reviewed For Aicha during its original Milan screenings. Lumi Tan of CURA. commented on the effectiveness of the emotional expressions Bennani sought in her characters, while adding that "its long narrative format lends time for further character development and narrative agility".[2] According to Mousse's Laura McLean-Ferris, Sole Crushing "gains even more nuance from its pairing with" the companion feature. "In some ways," she said, "[it] doesn't exactly feel like art. I mean this in a positive sense, in that it doesn't seem like anything else, in way that, say, the works of Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch, who have also shown at [the Fondazione Prada], didn't either, the first time I saw them. It feels like the fully realized and original expression of a group, its shared visions and sensibilities."[13] Billie Muraben of Canvas Online found the storyline "confusing" to follow on the first watch, but "a true representation of difficult conversations with people we love" on the second.[23] Near the end of its Prada exhibition (in January 2025), Jace Clayton said, "For all the mixed-media wizardry and zoomorphic verve, For Aicha is a tender story of familial reconciliation."[17]

Upon its Toronto run as Bouchra, Lawrence Garcia called it an "unusual, surprising, and often moving debut feature", with "dialogue [that is] often entertaining and witty [and] interactions [that] are convincingly naturalistic."[11] Monita Ray Mohan found it "wistful and charming", further writing that "Watching this film is an immersive and breathtaking experience.... It's wonderful to see such a touching and hopeful queer story centering characters from other backgrounds."[4]

Around the time of its New York premiere, Jason Bailey of Crooked Marquee deemed it "a frankly thrilling experiment" despite its familiar plot.[32] Lynn awarded it 31⁄2 stars out of five, writing: "One of the most intimate and political animations of the year... [Bouchra] insists on new forms and a new cinematic language."[15] Giving it 7⁄10, John Bayer of Next Best Picture predicted it would become a classic of LGBTQ+ cinema. Bayer had brief misgivings over its metafictional execution, but felt that the voice cast's "genuine, honest" performances compensated for its stilted CGI and uncanny valley effect.[28]

Various reviews highlighted Bouchra's animation style, with a few likening it to the aesthetic associated with early to mid-2000s video games;[3][28] many of the same stylistic elements from 2020's 2 Lizards resurface in the feature follow-up.[27] In his positive review from Toronto, Cineuropa contributor David Katz said, "Bouchra isn't quite revolutionary enough to feel 'new', but everything about it is made with such intelligence and rigour, persuading us that PlayStation 2 graphics and autofiction actually do belong together."[3] Jamie Lang of Cartoon Brew wrote that its characters are "not rendered in a cartoony style, nor pushed toward photorealism, but designed with a grounded, textural realism that gives the world an authentic presence that feels immediately identifiable to anyone who has lived in a metropolitan city. That visual approach, paired with the intimacy of the story, sets Bouchra apart from much of today's CGI animated fare."[7] Mohan described the film as "a Lego creation of video, photography, hand art, and 3D" that would pass off as a live-action work if not for the animal characters.[4]

Among Milan-era reviewers, Tan wrote that "Bennani and Barki's collaboration with creative producers and animators John Michael Boling and Jason Coombs achieves an astounding level of visual detail."[2] Another two noted the "playful visual moments" in Bennani's work,[9] which was also "characterized by a delicate touch".[27] Annalise Kamegawa of culture magazine NR said at the time, "In this blend of cinematic styles—documentary, traditional filmmaking, animation—a layered, experimental work emerges."[9]

Reviewers also observed the story's juxtaposition of reality and filmed fiction,[d] which "makes the movie stand out" in Bailey's view,[32] as well as its "stunning and unexpected shots"[15] and the differences between the New York and Morocco scenes in terms of lighting and character wardrobe.[4][18] On the realism in Bouchra, Lynn wrote:

"Characters don't always speak like native speakers, but they always come across as true, with pauses, hesitations, blunt statements, and even banality. Bennani herself has said she couldn't always tell whether a scene was fascinating or boring, and that feels exactly right; some viewers will vibe with the film's rhythm, others may find it banal. But those who settle into its cadence will find it touching, political, and deeply sincere."[15]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Prior to the Toronto showings, Bouchra was described as a jackal in hube 2024, Tan 2024, and Nouri 2024 among other sources.
  2. ^ Prada's official page listed 26 February as the intended end date.[29]
  3. ^ The Cinema Godard was on the first floor, while Sole Crushing occupied the ground floor.[30]
  4. ^ Attributed to multiple sources: Tozzi 2024, McLean-Ferris 2024, Bailey 2025, and Lynn 2025.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Mobarak, Jared (5 September 2025). "TIFF Review: Bouchra is an Aesthetically Bold, Personal Animation". The Film Stage. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Tan, Lumi (2024). "Meriem Bennani". CURA. Vol. 43. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Katz, David (10 September 2025). "Toronto 2025 Platform — Review: Bouchra". Cineuropa. MEDIA (Creative Europe). Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mohan, Monita Roy (1 October 2025). "Movie Review: BOUCHRA". Geek Girl Authority. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  5. ^ a b c "Q&A with Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani". Le Cinéma Club. 26 September 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  6. ^ a b c Giaume, Giulia (7 August 2024). "Realismo magico, umorismo e animali antropomorfi. Meriem Bennani sarà in mostra da Fondazione Prada a Milano". Artribune (in Italian). Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Lang, Jamie (5 September 2025). "'Spit and Duct Tape and Dreams': How a Small Global Team Built the Queer CG Feature 'Bouchra,' Premiering in Toronto". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  8. ^ a b Morgan, David (26 September 2025). "2025 New York Film Festival features Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis and more". CBS News. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Kamegawa, Annalise (3 November 2024). "Feature · For My Best Family, Meriem Bennani at Fondazione Prada". NR. WhiteCirc Ltd. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  10. ^ a b c Zilko, Christian (7 August 2025). "NYFF Reveals 2025 Currents Lineup, Including New Films by Tsai Ming-liang and Radu Jude". IndieWire. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Garcia, Lawrence (16 September 2025). "Bouchra — Orian Barki & Meriem Bennani [TIFF '25 Review]". In Review Online. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  12. ^ a b c Baranello, Alessia (7 November 2024). "Il cinema d'animazione è una storia di resistenza politica". Lampoon Magazine (in Italian). Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i McLean-Ferris, Laura (2 December 2024). "Reviews: Meriem Bennani, 'For My Best Family' at Fondazione Prada, Milan". Mousse Magazine. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  14. ^ a b Prince, C.J. (29 August 2025). "10 Must-See Queer Films at TIFF 2025". EDGE Media Network. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lynn, John (27 September 2025). "New York 2025 review: Bouchra (Orian Barki & Meriem Bennani)". International Cinephile Society. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  16. ^ a b c "TIFF Premiere Animated LGBTQ+ Drama 'Bouchra' Acquired by Lucky Numbers [sic]". Animation Magazine. 28 August 2025. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  17. ^ a b Clayton, Jace (24 January 2025). "Visual Art — Meriem Bennani: A show at the Fondazione Prada in Milan renders visceral the pleasures of pure percussion". 4Columns. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  18. ^ a b c d e Virgilio, Clarissa (19 November 2024). "Meriem Bennani: For My Best Family | Fondazione Prada, Milano". ATP DIARY (in Italian). Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  19. ^ Bennani, Meriem; Barki, Orian (2024). "Meriem Bennani / in conversation with Orian Barki". CURA. Vol. 43. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  20. ^ Caramanica, Jon (22 April 2020). "The '2 Lizards' of Instagram Are Coronavirus Art Stars: Critic's Notebook". The New York Times Online. p. C.10. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  21. ^ a b c Nelson, Hilde (2 July 2020). "'I Wish I Could Have Been with You': Imagining Digital Tenderness in 2 Lizards". Visual Resources. 36 (3). Routledge: 323–337. doi:10.1080/01973762.2021.1969209. ISSN 0197-3762. Retrieved 29 September 2025 – via Taylor & Francis Online.
  22. ^ Barraclough, Leo (28 August 2025). "Toronto-Bound Animated Feature 'Bouchra' Picked Up by Lucky Number as First Clip Debuts (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  23. ^ a b Muraben, Billie (28 November 2024). "Art Review: Breathing to Life: Meriem Bennani at Fondazione Prada". Canvas Online. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  24. ^ Nouri, Selma (19 December 2024). "Art & Photography: Nothing is silly to Meriem Bennani". Dazed MENA. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  25. ^ "Exhibitions: Meriem Bennani 'For My Best Family' at Fondazione Prada, Milan". Mousse Magazine. 18 November 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  26. ^ a b Keogan, Natalia (29 September 2025). "'We Knew This Chemistry Is Something That We Could Count On': Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki on Bouchra". Filmmaker Magazine. The Gotham. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  27. ^ a b c d e Tozzi, Carla (19 November 2024). "The must-see exhibition where Bennani illustrates what a family is today". domus. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  28. ^ a b c Bayer, Dan (29 September 2025). "Festival Reviews: "BOUCHRA"". Next Best Picture. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  29. ^ "Milan: For My Best Family (Meriem Bennani)". Fondazione Prada. 31 October 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  30. ^ "For My Best Family (Art)". hube. 31 October 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  31. ^ Hazelton, John (22 July 2025). "Nine world premieres set for Toronto competitive auteur section Platform". Screen Daily. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  32. ^ a b Bailey, Jason (26 September 2025). "NYFF Preview: That's Show Business For You — Crooked Marquee". Crooked Marquee. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
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