Aïssa Maïga

Aïssa Maïga is a Senegal‑born French actress, director, writer, producer and outspoken activist whose career has spanned more than two decades and crossed continental boundaries. Born in Dakar on 25 May 1975 to a Malian father and Senegalese mother, she moved to France at the age of four, where she later trained and entered the film industry. Her early breakthrough came with a role alongside Yvan Attal in Denis Amart’s Saraka Bô (1996) and was cemented by memorable performances in Michael Haneke’s Code Unknown (2000) and Caché (2005). The critical success of Cédric Klapisch’s Russian Dolls (2005) and her César‑nominated performance in Abderrahmane Sissako’s Bamako (2006) made her the first French actress of African descent to achieve such recognition, positioning her as a leading figure for Black talent in French cinema. Beyond the screen, Maïga has become a central voice in the fight against racial exclusion, co‑founding the DiasporAct collective and contributing to the powerful anthology Noire n’est pas mon métier, which confronts systemic racism and calls for concrete quotas in the industry. Her activism was vividly displayed at the 2018 Cannes red‑carpet protest and during the 2020 César awards, where she delivered a bold speech denouncing the lack of diversity and walked out in solidarity with peers protesting the honoring of Roman Polanski. Internationally, she has worked with auteurs such as Michel Gondry and Chiwetel Ejiofor, starring in Mood Indigo (2014) and the Netflix adaptation of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019), while also appearing on television series like Taken Down. Her multifaceted career, marked by artistic versatility and unwavering advocacy, continues to inspire a new generation of filmmakers and activists across the globe.