Nora Hamdi


Nora Hamdi is a French artist, novelist, essayist, film director, screenwriter and producer.

Career

She began her artistic career by directing short films and a documentary film before publishing her first novel, Des poupées et des anges, which explores patriarchal and social violence in the working-class suburbs of Paris. The novel was adapted into a feature film released in 2008, marking the beginning of her career as a film director.
In 2014, Nora Hamdi published La Maquisarde, inspired by the life of her mother, who was involved in the Algerian War. She directed the film adaptation in 2020, adopting an auteur approach centered on memory, war, and Franco-Algerian reconciliation.
In 2024, she adapted her novel La Couleur dans les mains. The film addresses issues of identity and institutional racism through the story of a young French Algerians painter forced to change her name in order to integrate into Paris.
Nora Hamdi’s work is generally described as humanist and feminist, with a strong focus on colonial memory, social justice, and the representation of Maghrebi women in cinema.

Selected works

Novels

  • Des poupées et des anges
  • Plaqué or
  • Les Enlacés
  • La Couleur dans les mains
  • ''La Maquisarde''

Films