Leïla Bekhti
Encyclopedia
Leïla Bekhti is a French film and television actress of Algeria
n origin. She is best known for her roles in Sheitan
, Tout ce qui brille and Paris, je t'aime
.
to an Algerian family from Sidi Bel-Abbes. She is the youngest of three children.
She went to theater school in Paris
(18e
) before entering the course of Stéphane Gildas, at Tolbiac, then the course of Bérengère Basty at the Art’aire studio. To live and pay for the courses she worked odd jobs (clothes, telemarketing). In 2005, her friends convinced her to go to the casting of Sheitan
, where she selected for the role of Yasmin, a young beurette. Released on 1 February 2006, Sheitan spent thirteen weeks in theaters, selling around 300,000 tickets.
The same year, she acted opposite Smaïn
in Alain Tasma's telefilm Harkis. The film told the story of an Algerian family who suffers persecution from French forces, despite having fought on their side in the Algerian War. Bekhti was interested in the film's subject as several members of her family, including her grandfather, fought in the ranks of the FLN
.
In film, she landed the role of Zarka in Paris, je t'aime
(segment "Quais de Seine", directed by Gurinder Chadha
) and Mounia in Mauvaise Foi, playing the sister of Roschdy Zem
. On television, she had a small role in an episode of the series Madame le Proviseur and in the series Les Tricheurs alongside Pascal Legitimus.
In 2008 she won a Best Actress Award at the Silhouette Festival for her role in Rachid Hami's Choisir d'aimer. She followed this with Pour l'amour de Dieu, an Arte
telefilm by Bouchaala Ahmed and Zakia Tahri. Bekhti starred in Ali Baba
alongside Gerard Jugnot and appeared in Des poupées et des anges by Nora Hamdi. For her role as Lya in the film she was shortlisted for the César Award for Best Actress
, although she did not make the final list of nominees.
In 2008, two supporting roles helped increase her visibility: one in Mesrine: Killer Instinct by Jean-Francois Richet
, and especially that of Djamila in A Prophet
directed by Jacques Audiard
. She played the only female role in the latter film, which won nine César Awards and the Grand Prix
at Cannes
.
Meanwhile, she returned to television with "Conte de la frustration" starring Nicolas Cazalé
and Roschdy Zem
and a new episode of Tricheurs. She also participated in the web-series Twenty Show, the result of a unique partnership between Arte and MySpace
, which became a documentary a year later.
In 2009 besides a third appearance in Tricheurs she played the role of Myriam in the two-part miniseries Le choix de Myriam that depicted the saga of an Algerian family's arrival in France. After she saw Bekhti's performance in Mauvaise foi, actress Géraldine Nakache offered her a role in her debut film as a director Tout ce qui brille. Released on 24 March 2010 it was a critical and commercial success with over 1.3 million tickets sold. Bekhti went on to win a Golden Swan Award at the Cabourg
Film Festival and the César Award for Best Actress for her role as Lila.
In 2010 she worked in a wide variety of projects. She worked with Alain Tasma again in the telefilm Vous êtes leur crainte based on the novel of the same name by Thierry Jonquet
. She also appeared in Jean-Luc Perréard's Itinéraire bis, in the musical Toi, moi, les autres... directed by Audrey Estrougo and in Anne De Petrini's debut film Il reste du jambon?. Her latest film, the French-Moroccan co-production The Source
, released in 2011 and competed at Cannes. She was also signed as the new face of L'Oréal
in 2011.
while filming A Prophet in 2007. In March 2011 the French tabloids reported that they are secretly married, but the couple has not confirmed this.
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n origin. She is best known for her roles in Sheitan
Sheitan
Sheitan is a 2006 French horror film. It was directed by Kim Chapiron, and written by Kim and Christian Chapiron. It stars and was co-produced by Vincent Cassel...
, Tout ce qui brille and Paris, je t'aime
Paris, je t'aime
Paris, Je t'aime is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements...
.
Life and career
Bekhti was born in Issy-les-MoulineauxIssy-les-Moulineaux
Issy-les-Moulineaux is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. On 1 January 2003, Issy-les-Moulineaux became part of the Communauté d'agglomération Arc de Seine along with the other communes of Chaville, Meudon, Vanves and Ville-d'Avray...
to an Algerian family from Sidi Bel-Abbes. She is the youngest of three children.
She went to theater school in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(18e
XVIIIe arrondissement
The 18th arrondissement , located on the Rive Droite , is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, France...
) before entering the course of Stéphane Gildas, at Tolbiac, then the course of Bérengère Basty at the Art’aire studio. To live and pay for the courses she worked odd jobs (clothes, telemarketing). In 2005, her friends convinced her to go to the casting of Sheitan
Sheitan
Sheitan is a 2006 French horror film. It was directed by Kim Chapiron, and written by Kim and Christian Chapiron. It stars and was co-produced by Vincent Cassel...
, where she selected for the role of Yasmin, a young beurette. Released on 1 February 2006, Sheitan spent thirteen weeks in theaters, selling around 300,000 tickets.
The same year, she acted opposite Smaïn
Smaïn
Smaïn is a French comedian, humorist, writer, actor and director of Algerian descent.-External links:...
in Alain Tasma's telefilm Harkis. The film told the story of an Algerian family who suffers persecution from French forces, despite having fought on their side in the Algerian War. Bekhti was interested in the film's subject as several members of her family, including her grandfather, fought in the ranks of the FLN
National Liberation Front (Algeria)
The National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Algeria. It was set up on November 1, 1954 as a merger of other smaller groups, to obtain independence for Algeria from France.- Anticolonial struggle :...
.
In film, she landed the role of Zarka in Paris, je t'aime
Paris, je t'aime
Paris, Je t'aime is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements...
(segment "Quais de Seine", directed by Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha , OBE, is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in the United Kingdom. She is best known for the hit films Bhaji on the Beach , Bend It Like Beckham , Bride and Prejudice and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging...
) and Mounia in Mauvaise Foi, playing the sister of Roschdy Zem
Roschdy Zem
Roschdy Zem is a French actor of Moroccan descent. He shared the award for Best Actor for his role in the film "Days of Glory" at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival....
. On television, she had a small role in an episode of the series Madame le Proviseur and in the series Les Tricheurs alongside Pascal Legitimus.
In 2008 she won a Best Actress Award at the Silhouette Festival for her role in Rachid Hami's Choisir d'aimer. She followed this with Pour l'amour de Dieu, an Arte
Arte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
telefilm by Bouchaala Ahmed and Zakia Tahri. Bekhti starred in Ali Baba
Ali Baba
Ali Baba is a fictional character from medieval Arabic literature. He is described in the adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves...
alongside Gerard Jugnot and appeared in Des poupées et des anges by Nora Hamdi. For her role as Lya in the film she was shortlisted for the César Award for Best Actress
César Award for Best Actress
List of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Actress .-Winners and nominees:...
, although she did not make the final list of nominees.
In 2008, two supporting roles helped increase her visibility: one in Mesrine: Killer Instinct by Jean-Francois Richet
Jean-François Richet
Jean-Francois Richet is a French screenwriter, director, and producer, born on July 2, 1966 in Paris. He grew up in Meaux, a suburb east of Paris.-Selected filmography:* État des lieux - named at the César Awards 1996 in the Best Debut category....
, and especially that of Djamila in A Prophet
A Prophet
A Prophet is a 2009 French prison film directed by Jacques Audiard. Audiard claims that the film aims at "creating icons, images for people who don't have images in movies, like the Arabs in France," though he also had stated that the film "has nothing to do with his vision of society," and is a...
directed by Jacques Audiard
Jacques Audiard
Jacques Audiard is a French film director, the son of Michel Audiard, also a notable screenwriter and film director.He won twice both the César Award for Best Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language, in 2005 for The Beat That My Heart Skipped and in 2010 for A Prophet...
. She played the only female role in the latter film, which won nine César Awards and the Grand Prix
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)
The Grand Prix is an award of the Cannes Film Festival bestowed by the jury of the festival on one of the competing feature films. It is the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or...
at Cannes
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
.
Meanwhile, she returned to television with "Conte de la frustration" starring Nicolas Cazalé
Nicolas Cazalé
Nicolas Cazalé is a French model and actor who is most noted for his role in the 2004 French film, Le Grand Voyage for which he won a Jury Award for Best Actor at the 2005 Newport International Film Festival...
and Roschdy Zem
Roschdy Zem
Roschdy Zem is a French actor of Moroccan descent. He shared the award for Best Actor for his role in the film "Days of Glory" at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival....
and a new episode of Tricheurs. She also participated in the web-series Twenty Show, the result of a unique partnership between Arte and MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
, which became a documentary a year later.
In 2009 besides a third appearance in Tricheurs she played the role of Myriam in the two-part miniseries Le choix de Myriam that depicted the saga of an Algerian family's arrival in France. After she saw Bekhti's performance in Mauvaise foi, actress Géraldine Nakache offered her a role in her debut film as a director Tout ce qui brille. Released on 24 March 2010 it was a critical and commercial success with over 1.3 million tickets sold. Bekhti went on to win a Golden Swan Award at the Cabourg
Cabourg
Cabourg is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region of France.Cabourg belongs to the Paris Basin. The commune is located next to the sea and the back country is a plain, favourable to the cereal culture...
Film Festival and the César Award for Best Actress for her role as Lila.
In 2010 she worked in a wide variety of projects. She worked with Alain Tasma again in the telefilm Vous êtes leur crainte based on the novel of the same name by Thierry Jonquet
Thierry Jonquet
Thierry Jonquet was a French writer who specialised in crime novels with political themes. He was born in Paris; his most recent and best known novel outside of France was Mygale , then published in the US in 2003 by City Lights. Mygale was also published in the UK as Tarantula in 2005...
. She also appeared in Jean-Luc Perréard's Itinéraire bis, in the musical Toi, moi, les autres... directed by Audrey Estrougo and in Anne De Petrini's debut film Il reste du jambon?. Her latest film, the French-Moroccan co-production The Source
The Source (2011 film)
The Source is a 2011 French comedy film directed by Radu Mihăileanu, starring Leïla Bekhti and Hafsia Herzi. Set in a remote village in North Africa, the story will focus on women who sex strike against having to fetch water from a distant well...
, released in 2011 and competed at Cannes. She was also signed as the new face of L'Oréal
L'Oréal
The L'Oréal Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company. With its registered office in Paris and head office in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, it has developed activities in the field of cosmetics...
in 2011.
Personal life
Bekhti met actor and comedian Tahar RahimTahar Rahim
Tahar Rahim is a French actor of Algerian origin. Born in Belfort, France, his family is originally from the region of Oran, Algeria....
while filming A Prophet in 2007. In March 2011 the French tabloids reported that they are secretly married, but the couple has not confirmed this.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Sheitan Sheitan Sheitan is a 2006 French horror film. It was directed by Kim Chapiron, and written by Kim and Christian Chapiron. It stars and was co-produced by Vincent Cassel... |
Yasmin | |
| 2006 | Madame le proviseur | Djamila Kadi | "Chacun sa chance" |
| Paris, je t'aime Paris, je t'aime Paris, Je t'aime is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements... |
Zarka | "Quais de Seine" segment | |
| Tricheurs Tricheurs Tricheurs is a 1984 film directed by Barbet Schroeder.... |
Vally | 1 episode | |
| Harkis | Leïla | ||
| Pour l'amour de Dieu | Meriem | ||
| Mauvaise foi | Mounia | ||
| 2007 | Ali Baba et les 40 voleurs | Morgiane | |
| 2008 | Choisir d'aimer | Sarah | |
| Des poupées et des anges | Lya | ||
| Mesrine: Killer Instinct | La fille du Fellagah | ||
| 2009 | La bête | ||
| A Prophet A Prophet A Prophet is a 2009 French prison film directed by Jacques Audiard. Audiard claims that the film aims at "creating icons, images for people who don't have images in movies, like the Arabs in France," though he also had stated that the film "has nothing to do with his vision of society," and is a... |
Djamila | ||
| 2010 | Tout ce qui brille | Lila | |
| Le cose che restano | Alina | ||
| Histoires de vies | Sofia | "Conte de la frustration" | |
| Fracture | Zora | ||
| Il reste du jambon? | Anissa Boudaoud | ||
| Toi, moi, les autres | Leïla | ||
| L'Or rouge | |||
| 2011 | The Source The Source (2011 film) The Source is a 2011 French comedy film directed by Radu Mihăileanu, starring Leïla Bekhti and Hafsia Herzi. Set in a remote village in North Africa, the story will focus on women who sex strike against having to fetch water from a distant well... |
Leila | |
| Itinéraire bis | Nora | ||
| Une vie meilleure Une vie meilleure Une view meilleure also known by its English release title A Better Life is a 2011 French film directed by Cédric Kahn and starring Guillaume Canet, Leïla Bekhti and introducing Slimane Khettabi.-Synopsis:... |
Nadia | aka The Better Life | |
| 2012 | La Juve de Timgad | ||
Awards
- 2008 Best Actress Award at the Silhouette Film Festival for Choisir d'aimer
- 2010 Swan D'or at the CabourgCabourgCabourg is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region of France.Cabourg belongs to the Paris Basin. The commune is located next to the sea and the back country is a plain, favourable to the cereal culture...
Film Festival for Tout ce qui brille - 2011 César Award for Most Promising ActressCésar Award for Most Promising ActressThe following is the list of winners of the César Award for Most Promising Actress . Since its inception in 1983, the award is given as part of the French film industry's annual César Awards....
for Tout ce qui brille