Bouchra, a 35-year-old Moroccan coyote in New York documents her long-distance relationship with her mother in Casablanca, as they explore together the love, pain and secrets that unite them through calls and intimate conversations.

The Garden Cinema View:

It’s remarkable how successfully this anthropomorphic animation manages to capture the nuances of the strained relationship between a conservative Moroccan mother and her lesbian daughter. Coyotes, cows, and bears are enlisted to convey the push and pull between tradition and modernity, local community and diasporic life, contemporary queer dating and friendship.

Although the animal faces can often obstruct the emotionality of a scene, the directors’ decision to employ as voice actors themselves and their own mothers, counterbalances this issue and the result is remarkably human. Mysterious and sensual, with a distinct noir feel, Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani’s debut feature is creatively brave and emotionally resonant.