Something in the Dirt / Animalia
- This is a past program
Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series Summer Sci-Fi. Learn more at cinema.ucla.edu.
Something in the Dirt (2022)
When two Los Angeles denizens come across a supernatural phenomenon in their apartment building, they naturally decide to exploit it for fame and fortune by making a documentary. It’s H.P. Lovecraft in the era of content. Directors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson deliver on the fear and wonder of the former and a sharp, if understated, critique of the latter as the would-be documentaries uncover a secret history of the city as the force exudes its own sinister influence over them.
DCP, color, 116 min. Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead. Screenwriter: Justin Benson. With: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead.
Animalia (2023)
The undercurrents of tension after a young Moroccan woman from a modest background marries into a wealthy family burst into view when the country is thrown into chaos by a supernatural event. Pregnant and separated from her husband in the confusion, Itto (Oumaïma Barid) must navigate the crisis on her own, a challenge that triggers her own internal crisis of faith and identity. Writer-director Sofia Alaoui keeps the nature of the phenomenon vague but the norms it disrupts in sharp focus in film that blends haunting visual effects with a grounded portrait of a society in flux.
DCP, color, in French, Arabic and Berber with English subtitles. 91 min. Director: Sofia Alaoui. Screenwriter: Sofia Alaoui. With: Oumaïma Barid, Mehdi Dehbi, Fouad Oughaou.
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