Malik Zidi

Malik Zidi
Born 14 February 1975
Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Paris, France
Years active 1996-present
Awards César Award for Most Promising Actor 2007

Malik Zidi (14 February 1975)[1] is a French film, television and theater actor. Zidi is a four-time nominated and one time César Award recipient for Most Promising Actor.[2]

Career

Born in Paris, France to a Kabyle, Algerian father and a Breton mother.[3] He spent his formative years in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, a suburb of Paris. Zidi abandoned his conventional studies early to concentrate on a career in comedy. Following courses at the Théâtre Véronique Nordey, and the Théâtre de Proposition in Paris, he briefly studied acrobatics and mime at the Théâtre de la Piscine and cinema at the Studio Pygmalion. Zidi made his first film appearance in the 1998 Sébastien Lifshitz-directed Les Corps ouverts.

In 2000, Zidi was chosen by director François Ozon to appear as the troubled, lovelorn, bisexual youth Franz in the Teddy Award-winning film Water Drops on Burning Rocks (French:Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brûlantes). The film was based on the play Tropfen auf heisse Steine by German film director and screenwriter Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The film is a four-part comedy-drama shot entirely on one set and featuring only four actors: Zidi, Bernard Giraudeau, Ludivine Sagnier and American actress Anna Levine. Zidi's role in Water Drops on Burning Rocks garnered him his first of four César Award nominations.[2]

Malik Zidi followed up with roles in the 2002 Antoine Santana-directed Un moment de bonheur (English: One Moment of Happiness) opposite Isild Le Besco, earning his second César Award nomination for Most Promising Actor.[2] In 2004, he appeared in the André Téchiné-directed romantic drama Les Temps qui changent (English release title: Changing Times) as Sami, the bisexual son of Cécile (portrayed by Catherine Deneuve), who visits his parents in Tangiers so that he may visit his Moroccan boyfriend. The film also starred actor Gérard Depardieu and was nominated for a Satellite Award. Zidi received his third César Award nomination.

In 2006, Zidi appeared in the Emmanuel Bourdieu-drama Les Amitiés maléfiques (English release title: Poison Friends). The film was showcased at the Cannes Film Festival and Bourdieu received the Critics Week Grand Prize and the Grand Golden Rail. The film also won the SACD Screenwriting Award and Zidi was once again nominated for a César Award, winning the Award for Most Promising Actor 2007.[4]

In addition to film, Zidi has appeared in numerous television roles.

Personal life

Zidi currently resides in the Ile-de-France.[5] He lists Michel Piccoli and Laurent Terzieff as his "heroes" and is a jazz aficionado.

Selected filmography

References

  1. ifrance.com
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Les César Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma
  3. « Mon père travaillait dans l’informatique et ma mère était pharmacienne. Je suis l’aîné. Ils ont dû rêver que je fasse médecine. Mes parents s’en sont sortis grâce à l’école, ils viennent tous les deux d’un milieu humble : mon père est issu du milieu ouvrier en Algérie ; ma mère vient d’une famille de paysans près de Concarneau. Tous les deux ont connu une ascension sociale grâce à l’école. », « Au début de ma carrière, j’avais peur d’être un intrus», Libération, January 2010
  4. VCU French Film Festival
  5. Malik Zidi's Official MySpace Page

External links