Anxiety is his trademark, the fertile ground of his inspiration.
But, after relying on the pangs of motherhood, it is another terrain conducive to anxiety that Nora Hamzawi explores: the time.
In his third solo appearance in fifteen years, the comedian scans and mocks the way in which current events and social movements (identity, feminist, etc.) influence his mental health, his life as a couple, his way of being. in the world.
Between two performances and writing sessions for a photo novel in preparation (Ed. du Seuil), she talks about this new show and her projects and returns to the Jacques Doillon affair, filmmaker with whom she filmed in 2020 and that Judith Godrèche recently accused of sexual assault.
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Madame Figaro.- What is the common thread of your new show which, also on tour, will be performed at the Folies Bergère from March 8 to 30?
Nora Hamzaoui.-
My pathological need to create optimism.
It's no secret: I'm naturally rather anxious.
Also, to combat anxiety-provoking news, I often take the opposite approach: I don't want to talk about serious subjects, I complain about my boyfriend when he's depressed... I've always had an obsession with joy, and the more chaos grows around me, of me, the more I try to compensate.
No doubt it is also linked to my son for whom I also seek lightness.
You talk about the impact of the time on your privacy…
Today, the world is explained to us a lot in a theoretical way: we listen to podcasts and columns, we read Mona Chollet's books, we watch videos... We are immersed in a society of images and words which, by infusing gently, modify our way of perceiving or being.
With feminist movements, and the faltering patriarchy, there is, for example, a real transformation which affects women and their way of placing themselves in the world and in their relationship.
How have you changed since the previous one-on-one
?
I turned 40!
With age, my personal anxieties ease and I undoubtedly have more confidence in myself.
I take charge of myself a little better physically, for example.
I also take a step back: I don't see myself complaining about a bad review when I see the difficulties that others are going through.
I don't know if it's age, wisdom or chaos that leads me there but I put things into perspective.
Also read: 40 years old, the first year of the rest of our lives
Does writing help you soothe your anxieties
?
It is above all the real, the concrete, the trivial that calms me.
When I discuss anxiety-provoking news with my boyfriend, the American elections for example, I always end up answering: “In any case, we will have to continue living, shopping, hanging out the laundry…” In this world where nothing seems to be going well, life in all its most banal aspects takes over.
This is what I cling to.
This dichotomy is everywhere, including on social networks where we go from a beauty tutorial to images of an attack in a second.
You write, direct and produce your show. When cinema calls on you, is it easy to just be an actress
?
On a set, totally.
But I have a professional distortion when I read scripts.
I'm so used to starting from myself for shows that I sometimes flinch when a character offered to me is far from my personality.
I wonder why a director thought of me, what he projected from the comedian or the columnist, I tell myself that he will be disappointed... But I try to take care of myself, and above all to tell myself that that’s also what cinema is for: to move.
After
Double Lives
and
Irma Vep
, you will be in
Hors du temps
by Olivier Assayas on June 19.
Tell us about this reunion.
The great luck with Olivier is that he chooses his actors for their nature.
His scenarios are jewels but he asks us to add a little of our material.
Out of Time,
which we shot in his childhood home, is an autobiographical film about two brothers confined with their partner.
I also recently played in
The Stolen Painting
by Pascal Bonitzer, of which I loved
Rien sur Robert
.
It's an ensemble film in which I play the lawyer of a modest family who found a painting by Egon Schiele (released May 1,
Editor's note
).
I refuse to dwell on [CE2, by Jacques Doillon] or this collaboration so as not to interfere with an action that seems essential to me.
Nora Hamzawi
You also played in
CE2
, the latest film by Jacques Doillon whose theatrical release has just been postponed.
Judith Godrèche filed a complaint against him for sexual assault when she was 14 years old.
Other actresses have mentioned abuse…
When I shot this film, this was the subject that interested me: school bullying.
There were problems of this nature at my son's school where I had met Doillon: his son is also a student there.
I am sad for the technicians and my partners that their work is indirectly associated with this matter.
For me too.
Always, when I'm offered a project, I ask if the director has any problems, what experiences have been with others... For personal reasons, I became aware of men's abuse of power at a very young age.
I am informed on the subject, I am very attentive to it.
I was also opposed to the release of the film.
Also read “He kissed me by force”: Anna Mouglalis and Isild le Besco, the other accusers of Jacques Doillon
How did you feel when the affair broke out?
I first thought of Judith Godrèche, of all those women who have the courage to come out of silence.
I refuse to dwell on the film or this collaboration so as not to interfere with an action that seems essential to me.
When a victim of aggression or abuse has the courage to speak, we systematically attenuate their words by confronting them with all types of arguments: "she waited too long", "she is crazy", "it was the era”… I couldn’t stand it if someone said: “For Nora, everything went well on the set”, and that my experience and these few unimportant words take the upper hand or minimize the words that really need to be said. 'be heard.
Nora Hamzawi
, at the Folies Bergère, from March 8 to 30, then on tour.