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| Bouchra. Meriem Bennani: 'We realised later, we quite liked the fact she is so soft-spoken and a bit repressed in some ways and trying to just keep things together – but she could really f*** you up if she wanted' Photo: Tape Collective |
Bennani and Barki previously worked on an Instagram video series, 2 Lizards, which saw the pair transformed into lizards to have in much the same way, although a lot less cutesy, as Aardman animation did with Creature Comforts. The pair opt for a similar idea here, with Bouchra depicted as a jackal – although she has mostly been referred to as a coyote in publicity associated with the film – and all the other characters also animals, although this is a Zootropolis-style approach with everyone getting along.
Speaking to the filmmakers ahead of the UK release of the film on August 7, Barki told me that they chose the animal for Bouchra first.
“We thought it would be nice to use an animal we found in North Africa. So, technically, she's a jackal, not a coyote,” explains Bennani. “Then in designing her, we liked this idea of an animal with fur, so you feel like you could touch her, there’s a texture. We realised later, we quite liked the fact she is so soft-spoken and a bit repressed in some ways and trying to just keep things together – but she could really f*** you up if she wanted because she is an animal with big teeth and claws and she could eat you.”
When asked why she stuck with the lizard, Barki says: “I guess I’m more sentimental.” She adds: “I wanted to stay a lizard, but also there’s a technical reason for it. Creating fur in animation – especially our production, which was a very small, independent production we had eight computers for most of our renders. Rendering and creating fur is very expensive. So my character was an easy one to drop into the scene – cheap – and I love the character design.
“I think Jason Coombs, who designed and modelled all the characters, really captured something about my energy in this lizard. The fact that she always has a hoodie on and there’s some sassiness to her.”
One of the challenges with having animals, however, was making the sex scenes work, something that the filmmakers achieve very well in the end product but Bennani explains it wasn’t easy..
“Our main character has a huge muzzle, so what happens is that when you put them [and another character] next to each other and their bodies get close, Bouchra’s muzzle is so far out that in order to kiss, their bodies need to be far apart. So, technically, it was really hard to make them kiss on an animation level. We had to find tricks.”
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| Bouchra and her mother. Orian Barki: 'In the film, they’re having all these conversations to get closer to each other because the foundation is love' Photo: Tape Collective |
In fact, one of the sex scenes was the first part of the film that they animated and it was going to be more of a montage originally before it ended up being considerably more intimate..
Bakri says: “ I think in retrospect, it was probably not the best idea to start with something so challenging stylistically but we looked at it from so many different angles trying to find the right tone for it to click. Also with the film being so naturalistic and not reverting to a more cartoony style. It was hard to find the right balance to make these animals have sex without it being too freaky. But then we also wanted to show sex, we didn't want to shy away from it. So in that scene, the way that we figured it out is that once the sex really goes off into fantasy mode, is where we cut back to the storyboards. That’s how we solved it because it makes sense in the world of the film for the storyboards to be more cartoony and fun to look at and not be too pornographic.”
In terms of incorporating part of her own life – and particularly elements of conversations Bennani had had with her own mother – she says having Bakri as a co-director was “rally amazing”.
Speaking about her mother’s response to the idea, she adds: “Once I asked her, I’m not saying it was easy for her but I think she knew that it was important for me in the way that she said, ‘Yes, and then processed after. She was just, like, ‘Yes, of course, I just don't want my voice in it’.
Barki adds: “The film is about mother/daughter relationships and it’s also about filmmaking in this very intertwined way and something that was very important for us to portray in their relationship – and this is also how we move as filmmakers – is that the foundation is love. In the film, they’re having all these conversations to get closer to each other because the foundation is love.
“In the film as in real life, Meriem's mom giving her consent and giving her empathy and understanding what it means for Meriem is sort of the first act of love required to make this film but also very much what the film is about.”
As for sharing the end product with her mother, Bennani says: “It was emotional but it was good. Her take is that now it’s not my story or her story, it’s a product of our filmmaking. Of course, it’s super personal but we’re artists and we’ve made a work that has its own life.”
Going forward, they have are already planning to work together again. Barki says: “We already have half of it written and we’re very excited about it. Our next film is very playful and we’re inventing a world.”
Bouchra is released in UK cinemas on August 7
