Samir Guesmi

• Name — Samir Guesmi • Born — 7 October 1967 • Birthplace — Paris, France • Occupation — Actor Film director • Years Active — 1988–present

Samir Guesmi was born in Paris, France, in on 7 October 1967, His father was a construction worker and his mother a childcare worker, and he had eight siblings. He is of North African (Algerian?) descent. He did not excel academically at school, but he found a love of theatre, and trained in drama. As a young man, he joined Studio Pygmalion, and then Tania Balachova's Theatre School, and undertook many stage performances. He also studied at at the Belle de mai theatre school in Marseille.

Guesmi has performed on stage as well as on screen, in movies and television series.

Guesmi's first role on the big screen was in 1987, when he appeared in Jaune revolver, directed by Olivier Langlois. For his lead role as Malik in the 1996 comedy film Malik le maudit, which centres on a young beur who dreams of leaving his suburbs for Canada, he won the Best Actor award at Amiens International Film Festival, as well as the Michel Simon Prize. In 2001, he starred in L'Afrance (As a Man), directed by Alain Gomis, which won the Silver Leopard at 2002 Locarno Film Festival. In 2003 (often cited as 2005) he appeared in Mathieu Vadepied's short film Le Souffle. His performances in mainstream movies include La Mentale /The Code (2002) by Manuel Boursinhac; Banlieue 13 (2004) by Pierre Morel; Ne le dis à personne / Tell No One (2006) by Guillaume Canet. His less commercial, auteur cinema films include Betty Fisher et autres histoires / Alias Betty (2001) by Claude Miller; and Selon Charlie / Charlie Says (2006) by Nicole Garcia. Also in 2006 he played Ahmed the receptionist in Philippe Pollet-Villard's short film Le Mozart des pickpockets, which won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. and the César Award for Best Short Film in 2008. For his performance in Alain Gomis' feature Andalucía, in his first major role, he was awarded the Best Actor Award at the 2007 Montecatini International Short Film Festival as well as the Golden Bayard for Best Actor at the 2007 Namur Film Festival. Guesmi wrote and directed (for the first time) the short film C'est Dimanche! (2008), which won at least six prizes at various international film festivals, including the Be TV award at the Brussels Short Film Festival, and the Special Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, at the 38th Molodist International Film Festival in Kyiv in 2008, second place at the Chicago International Film Festival, and the 2008 Grand Prix Award at the Grenoble Outdoor Short Film Festival (Festival du film court en plein air de Grenoble). Also in 2008, he appeared on television as feared drug dealer Farouk Larbi in three episodes of the long-running and internationally renowned police and legal drama series Spiral (Engrenages). He also had a major role as Thomas Mézache in the supernatural drama series The Returned / Les Revenants in from 2012 to 2015. In 2012, his performance in Camille redouble (Camille Rewinds) by Noémie Lvovsky earned him a nomination for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2013. In 2016, he played the role of José Géraud in the French-Portuguese film The Young One. His directorial feature film debut was Ibrahim, which was screened at Cannes Film Festival in May 2020 and won four awards at the 2020 Angoulême Francophone Film Festival, including Best Film and Best Direction. In 2021, he played Fouad in the Moroccan film Life Suits Me Well (La vie me va bien), the directorial feature film of Al Hadi Ulad-Mohand. Guesmi was nominated for Best Actor in the Critics' Awards for Arab Films in 2022. In 2022, he starred alongside Thomas Ngijol as his brother, Lucien, in Fratè, which was filmed in Corsica. In the same year, he starred in Nos frangins (Our Brothers), which was written, directed, and produced by Rachid Bouchareb. The film is about the death of two young men in France in the 1980s at the hands of police, referencing the killing of Malik Oussekine in 1986, and was selected as the official Algerian entry to the Oscars. Other notable directors with whom Guesmi has worked include Julie Bertuccelli, Bruno Podalydès, Sólveig Anspach, Arnaud Desplechin, Claire Simon, Michel Leclerc, and Valérie Donzelli.

Guesmi acted on stage in several performances under the direction of Frédéric Bélier-Garcia. He also performed in the title role in Éric Vigner's production of Othello at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris in November–December 2008.

• Year — Title — Role — Director — Notes • 1988 — Jaune revolver — Khadour — Olivier Langlois • 1991 — Noir dessin — Karim — Jean Heches — Short • 1992 — Savage Nights — Jamel — Cyril Collard • IP5: L'île aux pachydermes — Saddam — Jean-Jacques Beineix • 1993 — Navarro — Hocine — Patrick Jamain — TV series (1 episode) • 1994 — Les mickeys — Thomas Vincent — Short • Le clandestin — Ahmed — Jean-Louis Bertucelli — TV movie • Julie Lescaut — Slimane — Élisabeth Rappeneau — TV series (1 episode) • 1995 — Élisa — Jean Becker • Fast — Jocelyn — Dante Desarthe • Paul Bowles - Halbmond — Lahcen — Frieder Schlaich & Irene von Alberti • La vie parisienne — Hélène Angel — Short • Des hommes avec des bas — Pascal Chaumeil — Short • Le parasite — The vigil — Patrick Dewolf — TV movie • Lulu roi de France — Sami — Bernard Uzan — TV movie • Le serment d'Hippocrate — Jean-Louis Bertucelli — TV movie • 1996 — Malik le maudit — Malik — Youcef Hamidi — Amiens International Film Festival - Best Actor • Des lendemains qui chantent — Caroline Chomienne • Le mur — Farid — David Oelhoffen — Short • 1997 — Les Soeurs Soleil — The arab — Jeannot Szwarc • XXL — Delivery man — Ariel Zeitoun • Autre chose à foutre qu'aimer — Hamed — Carole Giacobbi • Adios! — Raoul #1 — Nicolas Joffrin • Big Bang — The reader — David Oelhoffen — Short • Seule — Erick Zonca — Short • L'amour à l'ombre — Nordine — Philippe Venault — TV movie • Mauvaises affaires — Karim — Jean-Louis Bertucelli — TV movie • La bastide blanche — Nordine — Miguel Courtois — TV mini-series • Regards d'enfance — The supervisor — Emmanuel Finkiel — TV series (1 episode) • 1998 — J'aimerais pas crever un dimanche — Mako — Didier Le Pêcheur • 1999 — Our Happy Lives — Rachid — Jacques Maillot • Un pur moment de rock'n roll — Inspector Choukri — Manuel Boursinhac • Le sourire du clown — The unemployed — Éric Besnard • Le voyage à Paris — Marc-Henri Dufresne • Les vilains — Rachid — Xavier Durringer — TV movie • 2000 — La taule — The cook — Alain Robak • Cours toujours — Taxi driver — Dante Desarthe • Du poil sous les roses — The gynecologist — Jean-Julien Chervier & Agnès Obadia • C.D.D. — 267 — Olivier Loustau — Short • Mix-cité — Djamel — Christophe Leprêtre — TV movie • Anna en Corse — Hamed — Carole Giacobbi — TV movie • Drug Scenes — Party guest — Guillaume Nicloux — TV series (1 episode) • 2001 — Alias Betty (Betty Fisher et autres histoires) — Inspector — Claude Miller • L'Afrance — Khalid — Alain Gomis • J'ai tué Clémence Acéra — Louis Ben Saïd — Jean-Luc Gaget • En mon absence — David Oelhoffen — Short • L'attaque du camion de glaces — Claude — Brice Ansel — Short • Docteur Sylvestre — Olivier — Jean-Louis Bertucelli — TV series (1 episode) • 2002 — Aram — Saad — Robert Kechichian • The Code (La Mentale) — Daniel — Manuel Boursinhac • 2003 — Qui perd gagne! — Albert — Laurent Bénégui • Violence des échanges en milieu tempéré — Adji Zerouane — Jean-Marc Moutout • Une grande fille comme toi — Akim — Christophe Blanc & Mercedes Cecchetto — TV movie • 2004 — District 13 (Banlieue 13) — Jamel — Pierre Morel • RRRrrrr!!! — Trapper 2 — Alain Chabat • Look at Me — The onlooker 2 — Agnès Jaoui • Destination — Nabil — Fabrice Camoin — Short • Echafaudages — The director — David Oelhoffen — Short • 2005 — Anthony Zimmer — Lt. Camel Driss — Jérôme Salle • Akoibon — Friend 1 — Édouard Baer • Ze film — Marco — Guy Jacques • Le souffle — The young father — Mathieu Vadepied — Short • Don Quichotte — Ricote — Jacques Deschamps — TV movie • Docteur Dassin, généraliste — Rémi Alkoni — Olivier Langlois — TV series (1 episode) • 2006 — Charlie Says — Mo — Nicole Garcia • Tell No One — Lieutenant Saraoui — Guillaume Canet • The Colonel — Ali — Laurent Herbiet • Ahmed — Ahmed — Alain Gomis — Short • Le Mozart des pickpockets — Ahmed — Philippe Pollet-Villard — Short • Mentir un peu — Agnès Obadia — TV movie • 2007 — Trivial — Medical student — Sophie Marceau • Anna M. — The receptionist — Michel Spinosa • Andalucia — Yacine — Alain Gomis — Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur - Best Actor • Ravages — Malek — Christophe Lamotte — TV movie • 2008 — Ca$h — Fred — Éric Besnard • Passe-passe — The nurse — Tonie Marshall • A Christmas Tale — Spatafora — Arnaud Desplechin • A Day at the Museum — A guardian — Jean-Michel Ribes • Leur morale... et la nôtre — Boualem Malik — Florence Quentin • L'autre rive — Nabil — Fabrice Camoin — Short • Rien dans les poches — Nader — Marion Vernoux — TV movie • Spiral — Farouk Larbi — Philippe Triboit & Philippe Venault — TV series (3 episodes) • 2009 — Park Benches — Romain — Bruno Podalydès • All About Actresses — Jennifer's husband — Maïwenn • I'm Glad My Mother Is Alive — The employer — Nathan & Claude Miller • Quand la ville mord — Tramson — Dominique Cabrera — TV movie • 2010 — Outside the Law — Otmani — Rachid Bouchareb • A Few Days of Respite — Hassan — Amor Hakkar • L'Avocat — Ben Corey — Cédric Anger • En chantier, monsieur Tanner! — Khaled — Stefan Liberski — TV movie • 2011 — The Woman in the Fifth — Sezer — Paweł Pawlikowski • My Worst Nightmare — The DDASS Inspector — Anne Fontaine • Au cas où je n'aurais pas la palme d'or — Yossef — Renaud Cohen • 2012 — Camille Rewinds (Camille redouble) — Éric — Noémie Lvovsky — Nominated - César Award for Best Supporting Actor • Pirate TV — Bébé — Michel Leclerc • Granny's Funeral — Haroun — Bruno Podalydès • Cherry on the Cake — Maxime — Laura Morante • Queen of Montreuil — Samir — Sólveig Anspach • Frank-Étienne vers la béatitude — Serge Bercot — Constance Meyer — Short • 2012-15 — The Returned (Les Revenants) — Thomas Mézache — Fabrice Gobert, Frédéric Mermoud,... — TV series (10 episodes) • 2013 — Gare du Nord — Julien — Claire Simon • Je suis supporter du Standard — Lakdar — Riton Liebman • 2014 — Brèves de comptoir — Couss — Jean-Michel Ribes • Poisson — Karim — Aurélien Vernhes-Lermusiaux — Short • 2015 — The Transporter Refueled — Inspector Bectaoui — Camille Delamarre • The Sweet Escape — The delivery guy — Bruno Podalydès • Belle gueule — The father — Emma Benestan — Short • Les mâles ne vivent pas — Philippe — Matthieu Salmon — Short • Nina — Ali — Éric Le Roux — TV series (1 episode) • 2016 — The Aquatic Effect — Samir — Sólveig Anspach • The Young One — José Géraud — Julien Samani • Ma révolution — Moncef — Ramzi Ben Sliman • D'une pierre deux coups — Hedi — Fejria Deliba • Première séance — Ivan — Jonathan Borgel — Short • 2017 — Ismael's Ghosts — Doctor — Arnaud Desplechin • I Got Life! — The trainer — Blandine Lenoir • La mélodie — Farid Brahimi — Rachid Hami • La bête curieuse — Idir — Laurent Perreau — TV movie • 2018 — La dernière folie de Claire Darling — Amir — Julie Bertuccelli • Tout ce qu'il me reste de la révolution — Emmanuel — Judith Davis • Ben — Laurent Wagner — Akim Isker — TV series (6 episodes) • 2019 — Notre dame — Greg — Valérie Donzelli • 2021 — Life Suits Me Well (La vie me va bien) — Fouad — Al Hadi Ulad-Mohand — Nominated, Best Actor, Critics' Awards for Arab Films 2022 • 2022 — That Kind of Summer — Sami — Denis Côté • For My Country — Adil — Rachid Hami • Nos frangins (Our Brothers) — Ouassini Benyahia — Rachid Bouchareb • 2025 — The Cost of Heaven — Nacer Belkacem — Mathieu Denis • The Site — Saïd — Akihiro Hata

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2008 — C'est dimanche! — Director & writer — Short Audience Award,Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival Multiple other nominations and wins

• Year — Title — Author — Director • 1991 — Les mariés de la tour Eiffel — Jean Cocteau — Olivier Mothes • 1994-95 — Tue la mort — Tom Murphy — Bernard Bloch • 2002 — Une nuit arabe — Roland Schimmelpfennig — Frédéric Bélier-Garcia • 2003 — Cinq Hommes — Daniel Keene — Stéphane Müh • 2008 — Othello — William Shakespeare — Éric Vigner • La Ronde — Arthur Schnitzler — Frédéric Bélier-Garcia • 2013-14 — Perplexe — Marius von Mayenburg — Frédéric Bélier-Garcia