QUEENS

With a nod to Thelma and Louise, Moroccan director Yasmine Benkiran follows two women and a young girl with a fixation on witches and human djinns with goats’ hooves as they drive across the desert in a bid for freedom. Zineb (Nisrin Erradi) is a convicted drug dealer who gives her jailers the slip when she learns that Ines, her 11-year-old daughter, might be sent into care. She rescues Ines and then hijacks a truck forcing its mechanic, Asma (Nisrine Benchara), to be their driver. Asma finds being kidnapped is a kind of release from her husband who takes her wages. Benkiran initially keeps the tone light, if not entirely friendly – Zineb has had a rough life but is neither blameless nor especially likeable – before the story takes a darker turn. Queens, an ode to womanhood, liberty and the glories of the Moroccan Atlas, was selected to close Venice Critics’ Week. This film is supported by the Red Sea Fund.