2023-10-23 15:30:31
Arriving in cinema through dance (studies at the Conservatory in parallel with Sciences Po), Naïlia Harzoune is on all fronts. From her first film Géronimo to her current projects, the actress retraces her journey with us.
You will be starring in The Hidden Woman by Bachir Benssaddek, to be released in 2024. How did you get into cinema?
Naïlia Harzoune: One day, during my dance training, Tony Gatlif’s casting director spotted me and said to me: “You absolutely have to meet him, he is preparing a film, still in the gypsy culture, and there are a lot of dancing moments”, it was a kind of musical comedy. She was talking regarding her film Géronimo. After that, I didn’t stop…
You also play in the adaptation of Bonjour Tristesse, the first film by Durga Chew-Bose.
I play Elsa, who is the character with whom the script took the most freedom compared to its initial form in Sagan’s book. With Durga, we worked on a free and powerful woman, in tune with what she experiences, a woman never “the tenant of situations”. It was enjoyable to mix the aesthetic side with total freedom.
You have just finished writing your first film and you are looking for a production. What are your influences ?
Yes, I wrote a film regarding three young women, sensitive, in love and I’m looking for a producer. My visual influences and who continually follow me are Cassavetes and Almodóvar. Cassavetes has a sensitivity within him, in his way of approaching cinema. What comforts me a lot regarding his vision is the love he has for people.
We often see you in the roles of a neurotic woman, inhabited by a certain sadness.
I have a latent melancholy within me. I imagine that this is what touched the directors with whom I worked or who wanted to work with me. This is what led me to make more and more films that were harder, more violent and more neurotic.
You were at the Saint Laurent dinner, on the eve of the 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival, in honor of Béatrice Dalle. What is your relationship with the House?
We flirt with Saint Laurent. I find myself at this dinner with Béatrice, where next to me is Virginie Despentes, and for me these are women who have flair, and a certain violence that they assume. And I find it beautiful, the brands and the directors who move forward with these people. For me, Saint Laurent knows how to connect with these powerful women, who are grounded and who we don’t try to smooth over.
You play in the music video, “Plus rien n’est grave”, by Marguerite Thiam.
Marguerite has been my lover for three years, and we have managed to create a space of trust and freedom. And I had already experienced this space on the set of Les Primates (a short film directed by Marguerite Thiam and Mathis Raymond, editor’s note). I like working with people who create a place where you can feel free!
By Anaïs Dubois
Photo Axel Van Hessche
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