A two-dimensional time-dependent analysis is presented to describe photorefractive recording in a film with anisotropic transport parameters. The solution of the rate equations together with suitable boundary conditions on the film faces has been obtained by numerical methods for a parallel recording geometry. The recording curves very markedly depend on the anisotropy ratioai=&mgr;z/&mgr;x(zbeing the axis perpendicular to the film faces), the grating period, and the ratio between film and buffer permittivities. Forai=1, the solution coincides with that previously obtained using an analytical approach. Approximate analytical solutions forai≠1 have also been worked out and compared to the numerical results. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.