French-Moroccan director Sofia Alaoui has just won the Cesar for best short film for her Amazigh short film “What if the Goats Die?”.
The award was handed to Sofia Alaoui at France’s 46th César ceremony, held Friday, March 12th. Sofia Alaoui was thus ahead of “L’Aventure atomique” by Loïc Barché, “Baltringue” by Josza Anjembe, “I will be among the almonds” by Marie Le Floch, and “A farewell” by Mathilde Profit.
“What if the Goats Die” is about a young shepherd named Abdellah, living in the high atlas mountains, Morocco, who is forced to brave the snow blocking him in order to get food and save his cattle. Once he gets to the village, he faces a supernatural phenomenon.
In her speech, the young director paid tribute to her mother. “Mom I can’t thank you enough for always believing in me when everyone wondered what was going to become of me,” she said.
The Amazigh speaking film has won multiple awards since its release early in 2019, such as the Jury prize award at the Sundance Festival back in February 2020 in salt lake city, and several short list nominations, including Clermont Ferrand, Sao Paolo as well as at the International Nature Namur Festival in Belguim.
Sofia Alaoui is Moroccan director and screen writer who spent her childhood between Morocco and elsewhere in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. She has directed both documentary and fiction shorts that have been selected for many festivals. Sofia is aiming for a cinema beyond borders that flirts with cinematographic genres. She is currently developing her first feature and TV series. She founded the Moroccan production company Jiango Film.
