Itto, who recently got married and is heavily pregnant, is having trouble getting accustomed to her new life. Her husband Amine often travels for business and her extremely wealthy in-laws look at her with contempt because of her Berber origins. The young woman therefore spends most of her time wandering alone in their luxurious villa, isolated from the rest of the world. One day, strange weather phenomena ignite the panic of the authorities, who send the army to quarantine the whole region. Itto sets off on a perilous journey to find Amine…

Animalia, which screened at Sundance, is a unique and fascinating take on the alien invasion film that takes the viewer on a mesmeric road movie deep in the Atlas mountain range. It carefully modulates its supernatural elements to better dazzle the audience with a transcendental and awe-inspiring finale.

Born in 1990 in Casablanca, Sofia Alaoui grew up in Morocco and China. She starts filming things at a very young age, keeping a video record of her family’s vacations in Asia thanks to a little camera her father gifted her. After studying films in Paris, she goes back to Morocco where she sets up her own production company, Jiango Films. The French-Moroccan filmmaker makes a name for herself in 2020 with So What If the Goats Die. Shot in the Amazigh language with a non-professional cast, the short film wins the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and the César for Best Short Film. Animalia is an extension of this bold idea.