Mouna Soualem

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Mouna Soualem
OccupationActress
Years active2005–present
Parents
Relatives Lina Soualem (sister)

Mouna Soualem is a French film and television actress. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Soualem is the daughter of actors Hiam Abbas and Zinedine Soualem [2] [1] and sister of actress/filmmaker Lina Soualem. [3] She is of Palestinian descent on her mother's side and Algerian descent on her father's. Her maternal grandmother and great-grandmother were displaced from Tiberias during the Nakba. [4] Soualem's mother would speak Palestinian Arabic at home, and the family regularly holidayed in Auvergne and Palestine. [5]

After obtaining her baccalaureate, Soualem studied for a degree in cinema at the University of Paris 8 and trained at the Conservatoire du 5 arrondissement in Paris. [6] She then took acting classes at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York. [6] [1] Soualem has stated that she knew she wanted to become an actress since childhood. She credits her parents with inspiring her decision to pursue acting, while emphasizing that they did not impose this path upon her: "It's a passion for this profession that I inherited, which they passed on to me in a very healthy fashion, encouraging me and supporting me as soon as I spoke to them about it" [6]

Career

Soualem made her acting debut in Steven Spielberg's Munich (2005), in which her mother also appeared in a minor role. [1] [7] In 2012, she starred alongside her sister Lina in their mother's feature directorial debut Inheritance . [2]

In 2019, she starred in Hafsia Herzi's You Deserve a Lover, which premiered as a special screening of Critics' Week at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. [8]

In 2022, she played the role of Sarah Oussekine in the Disney+ miniseries Oussekine , centering on the killing of Malik Oussekine. [9] [10] For her performance, she was awarded Best Actress at the 2022 ACS Awards. [11] That same year, she starred in Dominik Moll's César-winning The Night of the 12th , which screened in the Cannes Premiere section at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. [12] [13] [14]

In 2023, she performed in New York in Broken Theater, a dance-theater production directed by Bobbi Jene Smith. [15]

In 2024, she had a small role in The Last Breath, directed by Costa-Gavras. [1] In December 2024, Soualem was announced to star in her sister's debut feature, Alicante. [16]

In April 2025, she appeared in the Canal+ series Cimetière indien, starring in the lead role of Lidia Achour, a young police officer in an anti-terrorism squad who is sent to investigate the scalping of an imam near Marseille. The 8-episode series, directed by Stéphane Demoustier and Farid Bentoumi, takes place in 1995 and 2024 and touches on the legacy of the Algerian War and Algerian Civil War. [17] [18] [19] Soualem also appeared in Hafsia Herzi's The Little Sister , which was screened in the main competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, [1] [20] where it won the Queer Palm. [21]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
2005 Munich Amina Hamshari
2008 One Day You'll Understand Esther
2012 Inheritance Lana
2013Taxi DancerShort
2019You Deserve a LoverMouna
AmalShort
2020AvivaBriana
2021 You Resemble Me Adult Hasna #1
2022 The Night of the 12th Nadia
HawawshiFaridaShort
2024The Last BreathNurse
2025 How Are You? Rabbit (voice)Short
The Little Sister Cassandra
Colours of Time Fille Abdelkrim
TBAGrand CielTBA

Television

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
2022 Oussekine Sarah OussekineMiniseries
2023Le HorlaNadiaTV movie
The Turkish Detective Omer / Leah2 episodes
2025Cimetière indienLidia Achour8 episodes

Awards and nominations

Accolades received by Mouna Soualem
YearAwardCategoryWorkResultRef.
2022 Series Mania Révélations Actrice Oussekine Nominated [22]
ACS Awards Best Actress (shared with Ariane Labed for L'Opéra)Won [11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dominguez, Klhoe (7 April 2025). "Cimetière indien : qui est Mouna Soualem, fille d'une célèbre actrice et réalisatrice ?". Paris Match (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  2. 1 2 Ashby, Chloë (20 April 2023). "How a 'Succession' Actress's Daughters Joined the Family Business". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  3. ↑ "VIDÉO. Lina et Mouna Soualem ont travaillé en famille sur la série Oussekine". Ouest-France .
  4. ↑ Al-Dujaili, Dalia (28 June 2024). "With Bye Bye Tiberias, Lina Soualem is taking back her family's legacy". A Rabbit's Foot. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  5. ↑ Duponchel, Marilou (15 February 2024). "Lina Soualem : "On peut être attachée à une tradition familiale et avoir un désir de liberté"". Trois Couleurs (in French). Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 Dhombres, Isabelle (7 April 2025). ""Mes parents ne m'ont rien imposé" : Fille de deux célébrités du cinéma, Mouna Soualem nous impressionne dans Cimetière indien sur Canal+". Télé-Loisirs (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  7. ↑ Brown, Hannah (19 January 2006). "Munich: Portentous and preachy". The Jerusalem Post . Retrieved 1 May 2025.
  8. ↑ Thion, Baptiste (19 May 2019). ""Tu mérites un amour" : premier film low cost pour Hafsia Herzi" . Le Journal du Dimanche (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  9. ↑ Sotinel, Thomas (12 May 2022). "Oussekine, d'une famille à l'autre". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  10. ↑ "Oussekine, une mini-série dans l'intimité d'un drame national" (in French). CNC . Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  11. 1 2 Guerrin, Stéphanie (16 November 2022). "Oussekine, Ovni(s), Drôle... Les critiques dévoilent leur palmarès des séries françaises". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  12. ↑ Onana, Sandra. "La Nuit du 12: l'enfer, c'est les hommes". Libération (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  13. ↑ "Césars 2023 : La Nuit du 12 de Dominik Moll remporte six Césars, dont ceux du meilleur film et de la meilleure réalisation". Le Monde (in French). AFP. 25 February 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  14. ↑ Blottière, Mathilde (21 May 2022). "Cannes : dans "La Nuit du 12", Dominik Moll regarde l'horreur du féminicide en face" . Télérama (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  15. ↑ Burke, Siobhan (25 April 2023). "At La MaMa, a Dance Festival That Embraces States of Change". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  16. ↑ Vivarelli, Nick (5 December 2024). "Lina Soualem on Transitioning From Docs to Feature Filmmaking With Drama 'Alicante' That Will Star Her Sister Mouna Soualem". Variety . Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  17. ↑ Sotinel, Thomas (7 April 2025). "Cimetière indien, sur Canal+ : cauchemar éveillé sur l'étang de Berre" . Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on 7 April 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  18. ↑ Constant, Caroline (6 April 2025). "Cimetière indien : la guerre d'Algérie et ses silences qui tuent". L'Humanité (in French). Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  19. ↑ Collet, Emeline; Guerrin, Stéphanie; Valentin, Michel (11 April 2025). "Cimetière indien, Black Mirror, The Handmaid's Tale... 5 nouveautés à voir sur les plates-formes" . Le Parisien (in French). Archived from the original on 12 April 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  20. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (10 April 2025). "Cannes Lines Up Another Hot Festival With Wes Anderson, Spike Lee, Richard Linklater, Ari Aster Premieres (Full List)". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  21. ↑ "Festival de Cannes : Hafsia Herzi remporte la Queer Palm pour son film La Petite Dernière". Le Figaro (in French). AFP. 24 May 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  22. ↑ "Prix des Révélations : découvrez les lauréats de cette première édition !". Festival Séries Mania (in French). 22 November 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
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