Hafsia Herzi (born 25 January 1987) is a French actress, screenwriter, and director. She is best known for her debut role in the award-winning Franco-Tunisian feature The Secret of the Grain for which she won the award for most promising actress at the César Awards 2008, and the Marcello Mastroianni award, for best emerging actor/actress at the 64th Venice International Film Festival.

Early life

Herzi is of Tunisian descent from her father and Algerian from her mother, and is the youngest of a family of four children (two brothers and a sister, Dalila). After her parents' divorce, her father remarried in Algeria. Her mother lives in Marseille, where Herzi grew up.

Career

Acting

Herzi's film debut is 2007's The Secret of the Grain. She has also appeared in 2011's House of Tolerance. In 2016, Herzi starred in Sex Doll. Aside from her French film work, she has also appeared in American independent films War Story and This Teacher.

Filmmaking

In 2019, Herzi directed her first feature film, You Deserve a Lover. In June 2021, her second feature, Good Mother (Bonne Mère), was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, it won the Ensemble Prize in the Un Certain Regard section.

Personal life

Herzi has a son with her partner, cyclist Nacer Bouhanni. In 2017, Herzi had an altercation with a chauffeur after the latter declined her request for a detour. According to Herzi, the chauffeur had previously made sexual innuendos alluding to nude scenes in her films and accusing her of violating religious morals. She was cleared of charges of insult by the court of first instance, but the Court of Appeal of Paris found her guilty of non-public racial insult.

Selected filmography