Malik Zidi | WatchedThis
Malik Zidi
Acting
Biography
Malik Zidi was born in Châtenay-Malabry to a Kabyle Algerian father and a Breton mother. 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. 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. 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. In addition to film, Zidi has appeared in numerous television roles. In 2020, Zidi penned his first novel L'ombre du soir, which was published by Éditions Anne Carrière.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Looking for Cheyenne
Cheyenne, a journalist, decides to leave Paris after being laid off and to settle down in the middle of nowhere, far from the society she hates. The trouble is that she leaves Sonia, her true love, behind. The latter, a teacher who loves her job, refuses to give up everything - including her comfort - to follow her. Sonia makes all the efforts in the world to forget Cheyenne, whether in the arms of Pierre, a charming anarchist, or in those of Béatrice, a gay woman who soon proves perverse and dangerous, only to realize that her heart belongs to Cheyenne and nobody else.
Water Drops on Burning Rocks
In 1970s Germany, Léopold, a 50-year-old businessman, picks up and seduces 20-year-old Franz, who swiftly moves into his apartment. The dynamic between them intensifies with the sudden arrival of their ex-girlfriends.
The Soul Eater
When the disappearance of children and bloody murders multiply in a small mountain village, an old legend shrouded in sulphur reappears... Commander Guardiano and Captain of the Gendarmerie De Rolan are forced to join forces to uncover the truth.
Le baiser
A man speaks to a woman who only wants one thing: to kiss him.
Pardon My French
Nathalie is being stalked. By an interesting, intelligent young woman called Anaïs, who makes quite an impression on Nathalie, whose real name is Célimène and who happens to be a writer experiencing a crisis.
Almost Peaceful
Set during the largely unexplored period immediately following World War II, the film follows a group of mostly Jewish Parisians who attempt to restart their lives and rekindle their capacity for happiness in the shadow of unspeakable horrors. Variety called it "thoroughly charming. Sad, gentle, and funny in the best French tradition of high quality cinema." A film by Marcelo Gomes
Changing Times
In Tangiers where he traveled for his work, a man finds the woman he loved, and attempts to revive their romance though it ended some 30 years earlier.
Jacquou the Rebel
In 1815, young Jacquou lives an idyllic peasant life with his parents in the Périgord region of France. But one day, his childhood happiness is cruelly ended when his father is arrested, after a dispute with the arrogant Count de Nansac. With both his parents dead, Jacquou is adopted by Bonal, a kind priest, under whose influence he grows into an assured, morally upright young man. Now an adult, Jacquou has one desire. To repay the Count de Nansac for the evil he once inflicted on his parents...
The Great Meaulnes
A coming-of-age story set in France in the years leading up to World War I. Two teenage boys experience love, loss, anguish and betrayal in a rural setting of great beauty.
A Moment of Happiness
Philippe, 25, arrives one morning in Arcachon, where his sister lives. He is a young man with no ties, someone people easily confide in. He works seasonal jobs in the restaurant industry. Betty, 20, is a young mother full of life and tenderness for her 5-year-old son, Damien. They still live within the family household, but Betty's relationship with her father is strained. Damien is affected by this tense atmosphere. Betty finds a job, leaves the family home, and gains independence. Betty and Philippe will cross paths.
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