Hafsia Herzi.

Nominated for Césars this year Robbery The actress is expected to be important in 2024 alongside Isabelle Huppert in the next films of André Teschiné and Patricia Mazou. He is larger than life, he amazes Borgo, By Stéphane Demostier, very loosely inspired by a true event. The actress plays Melissa, a prison guard who has recently arrived in Corsica, gives confidential information to an ex-prisoner and thus becomes an accomplice in the murder of two community figures.

Madame Figaro. – Why the script? Borgo Did he call you?
Hafsia Herzi: I was fascinated by the cinema of Stéphane Demostier, whom I loved The girl with the bracelet, and in an ambiguous and more mature character, I saw that he offered me a new artistic challenge. I had not heard about the romance that happened in 2017, and Stepan also asked me not to know too much about it. his scenario is far from reality. So I mostly relied on my co-star in the movie, who in real life is really a jailer in Borgo. He was my guide, especially since he knew the woman who inspired my character.

How do you feel about your character agreeing to break the law to help an ex-convict?
I just believe he wants and needs to trust, he believes in second chances and he’s been cheated. Faced with the pressure these criminals may exert, he may also fear the consequences of rejection on his family. He feels trapped, has no idea of ​​the future scenario and has a hard time resisting the money offered to him. But everyone will interpret his actions in his own way. Like Justin Treet anatomy of a fall Stephane Demostieu invites the viewer to question himself without giving him a ready answer.

There is a search for truth in this director’s cinema, which we also find in your films…
Even if Borgo is fiction, it was essential for Stepan that the setting and characters be true, that it be documented. We filmed in an abandoned prison in Compiègne, and most of the Corsican prisoners are non-professionals. As for me, I did an internship in a prison setting that I had already applied to for my film Good mom which featured prison scenes. Accompanied by a sociologist, I conducted seminars with the detainees, which allowed me to discuss the conditions of their detention. One of my best friends was also a prison guard.

The authority of your character comes naturally to you.
I’m a director and I have to shoot on my shoots. I also shot in the northern districts of Marseille and I never struggled to find a place there. However, I am not a tyrant. like my character, I need to be respected, but I like to work with kindness.

I tried to offer characters that French women of different backgrounds could identify with.

Hafsia Herzi

Have you ever wanted a fresh start like your character?
Yes, and I found it in production. I wanted to direct since I was a child, but when I started touring, I was so happy that I put that dream aside. And then, I realized that I had a special build, that I was the face of the underrepresented diversity at the time, and that I wasn’t getting fifty scripts a week. Today there is progress, filmmakers like Stefan or Iris Kaltenbach (Abduction, Editor’s Note) I had the intelligence to design characters, not skin tones, but I quickly realized that I needed to evolve artistically to remain in control of my own destiny.

Do you consider your choice of an artist to be a political obligation?
I was very young, I was careful not to close myself in a box, not to accept the clichéd roles of a suburban girl. I needed to make a living, but I didn’t want to convey stereotypes that I didn’t support. When I started writing, I naturally explored female experiences and there too I tried to offer characters with whom French women of different backgrounds could identify.

Judith Godrech narrates the world of cinema “I’m talking but I can’t hear you.” What do you think of this silence?
It is real, but it is a problem that concerns all spheres of society. However, the more they hear, the more victims will be brave enough to speak up and find a path to healing. We must also, and above all, ensure that these abuses are no longer allowed. The arrival of intimacy coordinators on French sets seems to me a good thing to allow beginners to define their boundaries and facilitate communication.

I quickly realized that I needed to develop artistically in order to take control of my destiny.

Hafsia Herzi

Did you always know how to set boundaries?
At first, sometimes we keep things to ourselves in order not to offend, for fear of being categorized, but we quickly learn that we are penalizing ourselves in this way. In my case, it was about details. Through experience, I have learned to assert myself, especially as I lead and supervise teams.

You live in Nancy, far from Paris and its demands. Is this a way to preserve yourself?
I lived in Paris for ten years, but everything was difficult: stress, lack of space, sometimes lack of clarity… I am a reserved person, and I also wanted to live quietly with my family, distance from worldly things. which I take only in homeopathic doses. Besides, I need rest to write. I am preparing my third film, an adaptation Little Last, by Fatima Daas (Ed. Black on White), about a young Muslim and suburban gay woman.

Borgo, By Stephan Demostier with Hafsia Herzi… Released on April 17th.