MOUNIA MEDDOUR / PAPICHA
Mounia Meddour was born in Moscow in 1978 to a Russian mother and an Algerian father. They eventually moved back to Algeria, where she was raised. Her father is the renowned Algerian director, Azzedine Meddour.
At 18, she moved to France with her family, as a result of death threats they received during the Algerian Civil War.She studied journalism before joining the summer directing program at FEMIS in Paris.
Her first short film, Edwige (2011) won the Ciné+ Award at the Saint-Jean-de- Luz Festival, the UniFrance Short Film Award and was featured in several festivals including Dubai International Film Festival.
Papicha, her first feature, was selected for the Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019. In February 2020, ait won two César Film Awards - one for Best First Feature Film and another for Most Promising Actress in a Leading role.