Walid Afkir

Walid Afkir, born on September 2, 1982, in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, is a talented Franco-Moroccan actor and screenwriter. His father, Brahim Foudili, immigrated to France in the 1960s and was actively involved with the FLN, running a hotel in Montreuil that served as a refuge for the newly arrived Algerian community. His mother, Fattouma Afkir, hails from Ouarzazate, Morocco, and moved to France in August 1963 at the age of 17. She took on various jobs, including nannying, cleaning, and ushering at the Kinopanorama cinema in Paris. Fattouma’s culinary skills enabled her to work with notable figures in French fashion and cinema, ultimately culminating in her retirement as a sous-chef at the Concorde Lafayette Hotel in 2006.

As the youngest of four siblings, Walid spent his formative years in the Boissière district of Montreuil. Following his father's passing at the age of 15, he left school to support his family by working as a pizza delivery boy. At 17, he was discovered by casting director Elsa Pharaon during an impromptu audition, which led to his first role in Michael Haneke's film "Unknown Code," where he shared a scene with Juliette Binoche. This pivotal moment caught the attention of audiences and critics alike, with the sequence becoming the film's trailer at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. In 2006, Walid earned a César nomination for Best Male Newcomer for his performance in Haneke's acclaimed film "Hidden."