Honor and social appearance prove more important than the truth in this caustic look at contemporary Moroccan society, where it is still a crime for a woman to give birth out of wedlock. Faced with this dilemma, the title character, a twenty-year-old from a middle-class family, has little choice. After she reluctantly names names, her bourgeois relatives try to make a deal with the police and the man's working-class clan to protect her family from shame and Sofia from jail. A wallop of a twist helped Sofia win screenplay honors in the Cannes Festival's Un Certain Regard section.
Debuting feature director Meryem Benm'Barek is particularly good at showing the subtle distinctions of class, money, and connection, which perhaps even more than gender, influences daily life in her country, and distinguishes her as a talent to watch.
Director Biography
Director and screenwriter Meryem Benm'Barek-Aloïsi was born in 1984 in Morocco. She studied at INSAS Film School in Brussels. Sofia is her debut feature film.
Press
"Compelling by virtue of its insight into the struggles faced by women and impoverished people in other parts of the world, the film is also a sad reminder that those same people are often the ones responsible for drawing attention to those injustices." - Chicago Reader
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