“The Little One”, “Borgo”: Hafsia Herzi, the filmmaker who triumphs in everything

How far will Hafsia Herzi go? Crowned with the César for Best Actress for Borgo In February, the director signed The last little oneadaptation of the autobiographical novel by Fátima Daas, and awarded the Interpretation Prize by Nadia Melliti and the Queer Palm in Cannes last May.

The feature film tells the story of Fátima, 17 years old. The last child of a loving family, the model student leaves his Parisian suburbs to study at a philosophy faculty in the capital. Faced with another world, the young woman discovers her lesbian desires. Questions that lead him to rethink his identity, his relationship with faith and his family.

Of this ambition, Hafsia Herzi evokes, with the World“a cinematic duty”: “I grew up with young Muslims and homosexuals, so why doesn’t this character exist in the movies? People need to identify, to dream.”

reach out to others

To get as close to reality as possible, the 38-year-old filmmaker visits bars, clubs and Pride Marches and creates immersive documentary work. In search of the truth, he prefers wild castings and walks the streets to find his characters. He entrusts the main role to Nadia Melliti, a sports student and former soccer player. Discovered by a casting director during Pride, the twenty-something had never acted before.

“When she entered the room she had an energy, a look, a focus. It was an artistic crush. They helped me, so if I can convey it I do,” he explains to World.

Therefore, extend your hand to others, like those extended to him during his journey. Born in Manosque in 1987, the girl grew up in Oliviers, in the northern districts of Marseille. For the love of his mother and in the absence of his father, a worker, he died on a construction site when she was one year old. Only his name remains, of Tunisian origin.

Already at the age of five, the boy creates his own films, directs scenes with toys and a fake plastic video camera. The first time he saw a movie on the big screen was Titanic. Hafsia Herzi was eleven years old at the time and remembers having seen, shortly after, “Kate Winslet’s entire filmography.”

However, due to lack of means, adolescents do not usually go to the movies. But it was at school where she discovered works that would still influence her: from Marcel Pagnol’s books in high school to Italian opera in high school with the outings organized by her establishment.

The meeting with Kechiche

At 17, odd jobs continued (McDonald’s, grocery shopping, delivering to seniors) without Hafsia Herzi abandoning her ambitions. While responding to a casting announcement, he met Abdellatif Kechiche. Without being impressed.

“I didn’t realize who he was. He gave me a chance and told me: ‘You don’t pluck your eyebrows anymore, you gain 15 kilos’. I was disgusted, I wanted to be beautiful for the movies,” she confided to World.

For three months, she ate cream pudding after cream pudding, followed a bodybuilding program, and learned belly dancing. His role in The seed and the mule (2007) earned her, at only twenty years old, the Marcello-Mastroianni award in Venice and the César for best new actress.

Leaving the bars of Marseille, he moved to Paris, erasing his southern accent. But, even after her first Caesar, difficulties persist, as she herself says. World: “I heard a lot at castings: ‘I’m sorry, the character is not Arab.’ Or: ‘Honey, have you seen the color of your skin?’ In my neighborhood in Marseille there was no racism, so I didn’t understand this rejection. “It was the 2000s, we lacked a little imagination in cinema.”

Film your characters “with love and tenderness”

In order not to depend on the wishes of others, write and direct. His first feature film behind the camera, you deserve love (2019), is presented at Cannes Critics’ Week. Go on good mother (2021), filmed in the city of Marseille from his childhood, which received the Supporting Award in A Certain Regard. The film pays tribute to his mother Messaouda, a cleaning lady from Algeria, who brings with her an entire family.

“I try to be in the character’s head, without judging him, filming him with love and tenderness. I spend a lot of time in the frame: if it doesn’t highlight the person, I prefer not to stage the scene. It’s a matter of respect: I consider that we must take care of the people we film,” he explains to Trois Couleurs.

This does not mean that she is going to give up her acting career. His role as a prison guard in Borgo by Stéphane Demoustier earned her a second César, this time in the best actress category. “I assumed it was impossible, because in front of me was Zoe Saldaña nominated for Emilia Perez. I didn’t have anything prepared for the speech,” he admits. three colors.

An essential figure of French cinema, Hafsia Herzi is not willing to hang up the phone. the youngest, which she directed, opens in theaters this Wednesday, October 22. Later, the actress will meet with her mentor Abdellatif Kechiche to Mektoub, My love, Canto Due, The final part of the trilogy is expected on December 3, 2025.