Meriem Bennani is really funny. But don’t forget that it’s often said that the best humor comes from a place of truth. 

On talking about the process behind For Aicha, the film commissioned by Fondazione Prada for the event, Bennani (Rabat, Morocco, 1988) remarks, “I don’t know if everyone has this experience, but because I’m going back home [to Morocco to film], it feels like I’m a child again in my old room. I’m back to being a virgin, you know? But at the same time, I know I’m an adult. I make art. I can have these kinds of interactions. I think that makes my relationship to home more complex and dynamic and fun and helps it all come together.”

From 31 October 2024 to 24 February 2025, Fondazione Prada Milano hosts Meriem Bennani’s solo exhibition, For My Best Family. In this two-part show, Bennani and her collaborators bring to life cigarette-smoking jackals, rubber flip-flops, and a poignant nostalgia for home. The exhibition features the film For Aicha alongside the sprawling sound installation Sole Crushing, immersing viewers in Bennani’s playful yet evocative vision of family and belonging.

To see For Aicha, one must walk through the cacophonous installation, Sole Crushing, composed by Morocco-based music producer Cheb Runner (Reda Senhaji). The slap-slap of the flip flops, speaking to each other from polyphonic groups, traps the viewer in a lively conversation. The shoes are adorned with an eclectic collection of accoutrements: metal rings, a rainbow of plastic cord, and wooden nubs are the secret instruments in this orchestra. It’s like walking into a room with aunts fighting over a recipe, siblings squealing over a video game, or parents dancing to an old favorite song of theirs – there is an odd, yet familiar, feeling of absurdity that most only find in the comfort of their own homes. 

It’s this rubber, soul-filled arrangement, that got the docents dancing and even the most stoney-faced journalists chuckling. Chanclas, pantofole, slippers, and off-brand Havaianas reminiscent of summers past respond to the puff of pneumatic tubes to welcome all to Bennani’s solo exhibition.

Ascending into the upper level of the Podium space, visitors find a miniature version of Fondazione Prada’s, Cinema Godard. A portion of the theater’s chartreuse velvet chairs are waiting for audience members, ready to hold on to them as they sit for the 73 minute, animated work, For Aicha. Alongside co-directors Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki were Net artist John Micheal Boling and actor, filmmaker, and teaching artist Jason Coombs. From the labor of these four creatives, a micro production studio came together in New York for this project.

Created over the course of two years, the team produced work that sits familiarly in Bennani’s oeuvre anthropomorphic characters. Barki, who some might recognize as the other mind (and lizard) behind Bennani’s 2020 series, 2 Lizards, has a background in documentary filmmaking that contributes to the texture of the film. In this blend of cinematic styles — documentary, traditional filmmaking, animation — a layered, experimental work emerges.

For Aicha follows the journey of Bouchra, a 35-year-old jackal filmmaker living in New York creating an auto-biographical film about coming out to her mother. She (referring to both Bouchra and Bennani in this case) explore themes of queerness, coming out, and the profound effects of living between worlds—worlds shaped both by cinematic fiction and by borders such as those between the US and Morocco.

The film is filled with clever details that reflect the team’s shared experiences and the joys of working in animation. In creating the film, Coombs references a quote from Peter Chung: “I often remind myself that animation is the creation of the illusion of spontaneity. Because nothing is in fact less spontaneous than the process of animating.”

Nonetheless, For Aicha immerses the viewer in its narrative through a series of playful visual moments that are characteristic of Bennani’s style. A truck door printed with the image of toothpaste container folds open like a squeezed tube; a POV sequence of a descent down a glowing, singing elevator shaft; a series of high-contrast, fast-paced radio station introductions that harken back to talk-radio shows of the 2000s.

Even thinking of Bouchra’s presence, the tiniest of details were considered to construct her aura. Orian reminisces, “it was the folly artist’s idea to make the character of Bouchra very squeaky. She’s just wearing this leather jacket, but even that can create this presence for the character. When she sits down, she moves a tiny bit, and it squeaks.”

Integrated into the film are real conversation between Bennani and her mother, spoken in smooth, familiar, and affectionate French. This dialogue exemplifies how the film draws on documentary filmmaking techniques, not simply to replicate reality, but to use the very fabric of real life to evoke emotion. By framing these intimate moments in her animal kingdom, Bennani prompts the audience to reevaluate their everyday connections to home.

For long-time followers of Bennani’s work, her mother pops up in another Prada-related creation. Among a display of flying animated papers, her mom popped up as the star of the SS22 Miu Miu runway video. 

In discussing mothers, homes, and family, the team behind For Aicha reflects on how this work has affected their notion of what home is. 

Born in Isreal, Barki remarks, “in the past year, I’ve seen where I come from going down the drain, committing insane war crimes and genocide. Because of this—even unrelated to the film—my perception of home was shifting while making it.”

Barki later goes on to say on how the split of narratives in the film mimics the “split” sensation of diaspora. “In regard to living in a different country: at first, I expected that I’ll move to the new place [the US], and slowly, I will feel more like I belong in that new place, which I do. I realized that as more time goes by, I feel like I belong less in where I come from, but there’s never a full transfer. It’s just kind of like two vessels that becomes split, and this split is what makes you whole.”

Coombs follows up by adding, “one of the things that really drew me to this project was the beautifully complex, nuanced, philosophy and politics of both Meriem and Orian… It was really beautiful to be brought into this world, to be brought into their homes and their families, and see things that are so outside of my world. It’s been transformative for me. It’s hard to put into words exactly how home and family have changed, but they’ve definitely been very much affected by these two women.”

In discussing My Best Family, the team effused a sense of admiration for each other and their contributions. Bennani’s extensive collaborations on this project for Fondazione Prada embody the values at the heart of her exhibition—a sense of community and connection. In bringing together so many creatives, pulling in the voice of her mom and family, selecting a music producer from her own country, Bennani created a family within the exhibition space. 

Before leaving the interview, Barki says, “I’ll say one more thing! Today [30 October 2024] is going to be a very special event because our families came from all over to watch the opening of the film and be part of it. Also, about 30 of our friends from New York are here. In a real sense, that is just so fucking special!”

In a final remark Boling adds about Fondazione Prada, “yeah, so home’s gonna be here today.”