Moroccan actress Oumaima Barid is enjoying a breakout moment. Hailing from Agadir, the capital of Indigenous Amazigh culture, she has landed four lead roles in quick succession, with her films screening at major international festivals including Sofia Alaoui’s Animalia at Sundance in 2023 and LGBTQ+ drama Cabo Negro, a Karlovy Vary premiere this year.
After working as an extra, Barid landed a supporting role in Al Hadi Ulad-Mohand’s 2021 drama Life Suits Me Well, which screened at Red Sea. She then moved to Casablanca to study at the Acting Institute. “I made a choice and I’m proud of the results,” says Barid, acknowledging “there is a lot of work to do”.
She is clearly drawn to unconventional roles, and auditioned for Animalia while living in Agadir. “They were looking for someone who speaks Amazigh,” says Barid, about the role of a pregnant woman who has a supernatural experience. The film won Sundance’s world cinema dramatic special jury award for creative vision before being released in Spain and the Netherlands this summer.
Barid followed it up with Abdellah Taïa’s Cabo Negro, playing a gay woman who embarks on a transformative journey with her best friend, travelling from Casablanca to the titular Moroccan beach resort.
In Abdelhai Laraki’s Fez Summer ’55, which premiered at Tallinn in 2023 and was released in Morocco in January, Barid plays a student freedom fighter. Seloua El Gouni’s debut feature The Wound, which started its festival run in November, sees her play a Moroccan woman butting up against societal expectations.
Now Barid, who also stars in upcoming Moroccan TV series Caftan Khadijaa, is looking for a change. “I wish to try something lighter, like a comedy,” says the multilingual actress, who now works with an agent in Europe. “I’m giving myself five years to see where this takes me. I want to be able to act all over the world and portray a diverse range of characters.”
Contact: Christelle Graillot, L’ameprésario
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