‘Bouchra’ Trailer – Barki and Bennani’s Animated Documentary Opens in U.S. Cinemas

Bouchra is the debut feature from directors Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki. The film follows Bouchra, a jackal, as she navigates her tumultuous relationship with her mother and the conflict between her queer identity and her family’s traditional beliefs.

Using a unique style of surreal 3D animation and adapted from real phone calls with the filmmaker’s mother, the film is a blend of documentary and slice-of-life drama. The voice cast includes Bennani, Barki, Ariana Faye Allensworth, Fayçal Azizi, and Yto Barrada.

Bouchra is the second collaboration between Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki, following 2 Lizards (2020), an eight-part episodic web series about two animated anthropomorphic lizards navigating the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. The project established the pair’s distinctive blend of experimental animation, humor, and genuine emotion.

Bouchra premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. The film has also screened at New York Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Wisconsin Film Festival, Milwaukee Film Festival, Zagreb Film Festival, and DOXA Documentary Film Festival.

The film is scheduled for a limited theatrical release in the U.S. on June 26, 2026, via Film Movement, and will be available to stream on August 21, 2026.

In this film, 35-year-old Moroccan Coyote and filmmaker, Bouchra, lives in New York and chronicles the impact her queerness has on her relationship with her mother, Aïcha, in Casablanca. Cutting between the film that’s forming and real-life conversations between Bouchra and Aïcha (recreations of phone calls that took place between Bennani and her mother), Bouchra is a humorous and tender portrait of the love and pain that both sides have to understand in order to move forward.

The film explores the nuances of familial relationships and, as Bennani explains in an interview with Purple Hour, “The film is about being understood by others, but also making the effort to understand them. We have to talk about going both ways.” The film is deeply personal for both directors, especially for Bennani, who based the story on her own life.

Critics’ response to Bouchra has been largely positive. The use of anthropomorphic animals brings a unique angle to the film’s themes of queer identity and intergenerational conflict. The Guardian praised the film as “groundbreaking” and applauded its refusal to reiterate binaries or fall into cliches. A reviewer from Next Best Picture said Bouchra will be a “classic of queer cinema for years to come.”

Watch the official trailer for Bouchra above.