Bouchra

The fact that Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani’s insightful and often playful debut feature Bouchra combines documentary techniques with an inventive narrative structure, and uses 3D animation, would be enough to make it an unique work. But what makes it a singular piece is its disarming and affecting honesty.

Bouchra is a queer, Moroccan Coyote and filmmaker living in New York, preoccupied with how her sexuality has impacted her relationship with her mother (also a Coyote). The daughter is anxious to move on with her life and career but is plagued by doubts — and convinced that the only way to move on is to use her art to confront the tensions and unresolved issues with her parent.

Barki and Bennani take a decidedly inventive approach to their subject. The action is split between two different Bouchras and two equally different mothers. “Fictional” Bouchra visits her mother Aicha, a celebrated painter, but their lively exchanges almost exclusively revolve around their mutual love of art — the subject of Bouchra’s sexuality is never broached. “Filmmaker” Bouchra constantly keeps in touch with her cardiologist mother in Casablanca, and their honest and intense phone calls — based on actual conversations had by Bennani — dwell on many of the issues the “fictional” mother and daughter assiduously avoid. Barki and Bennani blur the lines between fiction, art, and reality even further by having friends and family voice versions of themselves.

At its heart, Bouchra is about the complex, deep bonds between mothers and daughters, driven by the realization that sometimes you have to look back to move forward.

ROBYN CITIZEN