“At some point, something happens, it would be good if we listened”

It’s the story of a woman who goes on stage and confirms what the doctors say: laughter is the best stress reliever. She is angry, exasperated even. Sometimes for the right reasons. And often for the bad ones. Nora Hamzawi uses this exasperation as a comic source to tell the daily life of a 40-year-old woman in a relationship with a child. Social situation close to the prototype, which she dynamites by assuming all the rights: a raw frankness. And a good dose of bad faith. His show thrives on contrast: an assured flow which would tell of certainty, determination and which ultimately betrays this question: in what state am I wandering?” While we try to deceive, Nora Hamzawi takes responsibility for everything: “her antidepressants, her libido at sea level, her straight life consumed by everyday life or even her obsession with the way others see her.”

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She will be performing at the Folies Bergères until March 30 before touring throughout France until June 2025.

She studied communications and carried out missions where she understood nothing. She was champing at the bit in the women’s press before a friend simply told her: “do YOUR thing.” Doing his own thing guarantees him freedom of speech. Recently, she took a stand once morest the release of a film by Jacques Doillon in which she plays one of the main roles. Doing her thing, when we see her on stage, we say to ourselves that “more than antidepressants, that might be the solution”.

Nora Hamzawi in L’Echappée on March 15, 2024 © Radio France – Rebecca Manzoni/France Inter

“CE2” by Jacques Doillon

Nora Hamzawi participated in the film CE2 by Jacques Doillon, whose release was first canceled and then rescheduled. She spoke on her Instagram account to say that she is opposed to the release of the film. Ultimately, the film will not be released.

The comedian explains: “The film was shot four or five years ago, but it was blocked due to disagreements with the production over the editing, I believe. Everyone had mourned this film a little. I played the mother who protects her harassed child, a subject that interests and touches me. And then I learned that the film was going to be released at a time when there were all these accusations of harassment, violence and rape. So there is a chasm. LThis question doesn’t even arise for me. Something important is happening regarding the freedom to speak out regarding acts of violence once morest minors in the cinema industry. Releasing the film now is truly disrespectful. I do not support this decision which seems to me to be a contempt for the words of women.

Then, I received a number of messages praising my courage. And that troubles me. And I tell myself that if we talk regarding courage, it’s good that there is fear somewhere. Perhaps also, I allow myself to have this freedom, because I do not depend on this industry. Maybe because I do stand-up and I’m not afraid of being blacklisted. And I don’t tour that much, so that’s not even the point. Above all, at some point, we will stop thinking regarding ourselves. The words of the victims’ wives are always attenuated by: “Yes, but she went up to his house. » “Yes, but she’s a little crazy too”… So if I had supported the release of this film, when I hadn’t had a painful experience, I might have been told not to make too many comments. noise because I’m fine. But it’s not regarding me, it’s regarding saying, at some point, something is happening, it would be good if we listened.

Then, there was this comment from Dominique Besnehard, as funny as it was grotesque, who said that I was not good in the film. But I’m not talking regarding a medal, nor begging for a sticker. We’re talking regarding violence, so we don’t care if I’m good in the film. And then, it implies that if we speak out, we will have a bad reputation. He apologized, not publicly, but through an agent. »

An unconscious family sense of staging

How did the theater, the stage, come to him? Nora Hamzawi explains: “It still seems a bit violent, but despite all the love I have for my family, nothing has been passed on to me. I don’t know my father and know very little regarding my origins. My mother was a widow with four children, we didn’t have much transmission, memory. It was more like a clean slate from the past, and “let’s go, let’s move forward”. I was never advised to go see exhibitions. I discovered it through school. But there was a certain taste for staging, completely unconscious: family staging, narcissistic and egocentric. Luck, if we have to take a chance sometimes from dramas or stories, or from somewhat busy childhoods, is to look down on the situation and say that this somewhat zany thing deserves to be seen, transformed and told differently. »

The suit, the bun, the glasses, the t-shirt, the jeans, the sneakers and the fast flow

A very comfortable stage outfit! Nora Hamzawi: “I decided to do my first show, known to the public, maybe ten or twelve years ago. I quit my job and thought regarding the character. I thought of it a bit like a drawing, a comic strip or a cartoon. Like speed dating, we have little time to identify the person. The jeans and the white t-shirt are my favorites and came very quickly and the glasses were at first because I didn’t want to see people, which is no longer the case, and also because I don’t I don’t like playing with lenses. The bun happened because I sweat a lot on stage. But in my last show, I let them go. Overall, I wear things that allow me to not be too self-conscious. For rapid flow, it’s stage fright or stress, but it has become my trademark.”

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