Bouchra
In this striking animation set in a world of anthropomorphic animals, a queer coyote breaks the wall of silence with her mother nine years after her coming out.
Bouchra, a coyote, is a New York–based Moroccan filmmaker in the throes of creating a semi-autobiographical feature. Unable to access the inspiration she seeks, she decides to call her mother, Aïcha, who lives in Casablanca, to address the topic they’ve left untouched for almost a decade: Bouchra’s sexuality. Despite staying in touch, mother and daughter have never discussed Bouchra’s same-sex relationships, nor her ‘out’ life in the US. As the filmmaker starts devising storyboards, we’re pulled into a genre-defying hybrid work that blends memory, fantasy and metafiction.
Winning the top queer prize at the Chicago International Film Festival, Bouchra recalls directors Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani’s 2020 miniseries 2 Lizards in its evocation of a hyperreal world where animals act and interact like humans. Blending live action, photogrammetry and 3D scanning, it uses actual snippets of conversation between Bennani and her mother to launch into confabulation, with Bouchra’s film-within-a-film offering a medium for catharsis, conjecture and wish fulfilment. Empathetic and visionary, Bouchra meditates on the act of mediation itself – how cinema, just like discussions held across distance and time, necessarily hinges on our version of the truth.
“Ingenious … Far from reiterating tired binaries – tradition versus modernity, elders versus youngsters – the film embraces the beauty of contradictions with open arms.” – The Guardian
In celebration of this film, we’re running an event to create connections of our own – hosted by Melbourne’s own effervescent, multi-hyphenate Drag Race Down Under winner Lazy Susan. On Thursday 13 August, from 7.15pm to 8.15pm, you’re invited to the Festival Hub for an hour of conversation, connection and … possibly even love.
Entry is free, but we encourage you to RSVP as space is limited – tickets available here.
Tickets
For information about the accessible services being offered at MIFF, please visit miff.com.au/access. If you require any access service, such as wheelchair/step-free access, for any MIFF session, please call 03 8660 4888 or email boxoffice@miff.com.au to book your ticket.
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