Moroccan Director’s Amazigh-Language Film Debuts at Sundance Festival

As surprising as it may seem, this film was shot in Amazigh and played by locals that the director met in Imilchil, a few months before the shooting. It tells the story of Abdellah, a young shepherd, and his father, isolated in the Atlas mountains, who see their herd gradually dying.

To save the animals, Abdellah goes to the nearest village to find them food. Once there, he realizes that the village has been emptied of its inhabitants because of a mysterious event...

"Qu’importe si les bêtes meurent" is the only Moroccan film presented at Sundance, a festival that opens the doors to international competition and allows to compete for the Oscars. The film will also be screened at the largest short film festival, the Clermont-Ferrand Festival, scheduled from January 31 to February 8, reports 2M.ma.

But who is Sofia Alaoui? She was born in Casablanca, to a Savoyard mother and a Berber father. She spent her childhood between Morocco and China, as her parents were determined to discover Asia. After Casablanca, she settled in Paris to study cinema. She directed her first fiction short film: "Kenza des Choux", which has circulated in about fifteen festivals.

In 2015, she directed a first documentary short film, "Les enfants de Naplouse", broadcast on France 3 and TV5. In 2017, she founded her production company, Jiango Film, and released a second documentary short film, "Les vagues ou rien", produced by AliNProduction and 2M, and broadcast in March 2019 on television. This last production brought together 2.3 million viewers, the same source specifies.