Hafsia Herzi, first French woman in competition at Cannes 2025: “I always wanted to make my mother proud”
A few weeks after winning her César Award for Best Actress, the director is the first French actress to enter the competition at the 78th Cannes Film Festival. "La Petite Dernière" is the story of a young Muslim suburbanite trying to come to terms with her homosexuality.
By Catherine BalleThis time, she's in the deep end. "It's huge, I don't really realize it," says Hafsia Herzi, with a shy smile and jet-black hair carefully tucked over her shoulder. The 38-year-old director presented "La Petite Dernière" this Friday in competition at the Cannes Film Festival . A vibrant and sensual feature film, adapted from the autobiographical novel by Fatima Daas, about a 17-year-old Muslim girl who lives in a housing project and discovers her homosexuality.
Hafsia Herzi certainly plays a bit at home on the Croisette. The actress, who was revealed at 18 by Abdellatif Kechiche in "La Graine et le Mulet," has accompanied six films there as an actress (including "L'Apollonide, " "Mektoub My Love," and "Le Ravissement") as well as her two previous feature films as a filmmaker, "Tu mérites un amour" and "Bonne mère," shown in parallel selections.
Le Parisien
