Hamid Najah (1949—2024) was a
Moroccan theater and film actor, set designer, poet, and artist.
Early life
Hamid Najah was born in 1949 in
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
. In a 2010 interview with ''
Aujourd'hui Le Maroc'', he described the neighborhood
Derb Sultan as "my entire childhood, it's almost my life, it's my knowledge, my existence, because it's in this neighborhood where my artistic career began by meeting various people from Derb Sultan."
Career
Renowned in
theater, cinema, and
fine arts, Najah he began his acting career as a comedian with "Al Masrah Al Bassime" at the Derb Bouchentouf Cultural Center, and "Achihab" by Mohamed Tsouli in 1966, then with the "Maâmora" troupe in 1970, before heading to
Paris, France to study theater with one of the major figures in Brazilian theater,
Augusto Boal
Augusto Boal (16 March 1931 – 2 May 2009) was a Brazilian theatre practitioner, drama theorist, and political activist. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatrical form originally used in radical left popular education movemen ...
.
A director and set designer, he underwent formal theater training in the early 1970s.
Najah starred in significant film productions since the mid-1970s including
Mostafa Derkaoui
Mostafa Derkaoui (; 1944 - ) is a Moroccan film director and screenwriter who has made revolutionary and socially-engaged films.
Biography
Derkaoui was born in Oujda, Morocco in 1944. In the early 1960s, Derkaoui studied philosophy in Casablanc ...
's ''
About Some Meaningless Events
''About Some Meaningless Events'' is a 1974 docu-fiction film directed by Mostafa Derkaoui. Moroccan authorities banned the film after its first and only screening in Paris. Widely believed to have been lost, negative prints were uncovered in th ...
'' in 1974 and
Mohammed Reggab's ''
The Barber of the Poor District'', among others, in addition to his various roles on television.
Najah was also a poet, writing in French,
and an artist known for his drawings and
murals.
Death
Najah died on 28 February 2024 in Casablanca following a long illness.
Filmography
* ''
About Some Meaningless Events
''About Some Meaningless Events'' is a 1974 docu-fiction film directed by Mostafa Derkaoui. Moroccan authorities banned the film after its first and only screening in Paris. Widely believed to have been lost, negative prints were uncovered in th ...
'' (1974)
* ''
The Barber of the Poor District'' (1982)
* ''Le goudron'' (1984)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Najah, Hamid
1949 births
2024 deaths
People from Casablanca
Moroccan theatre people
Moroccan actors
Moroccan painters
Moroccan poets