Luàna Bajrami-Rahmani (; born 14 March 2001) is a French-Kosovar actress. She is known for her roles in the films ''

Portrait of a Lady on Fire ''Portrait of a Lady on Fire'' (french: Portrait de la jeune fille en feu, lit=Portrait of the Young Lady on Fire) is a 2019 French historical romantic drama film written and directed by Céline Sciamma, starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haen ...

'' (2019) and '' School's Out'' (2018). She made her directorial debut with ''

The Hill Where Lionesses Roar ''The Hill Where Lionesses Roar'' (french: La colline où rugissent les lionnes; sq, Luaneshat e kodrës) is a drama film, directed by Luàna Bajrami and released in 2021. A coproduction of companies from France and Kosovo, the film centres on Q ...

'' (2020).

Early life

Bajrami's family is from Pleshina, a village in the Ferizaj District of Kosovo. When she was seven, the family moved to

Créteil Créteil () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Cré ...

, just south of Paris. She first became interested in acting after watching Nicolas Bary's 2008 adaption of ''Trouble at Timpetill'', based on the novel by

Henry Winterfeld Henry Winterfeld (April 9, 1901 – January 27, 1990), published under the pseudonym Manfred Michael, was a German writer and artist famous for his children's and young adult novels. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1940 and lived there until his ...

Career

Bajrami's first role was in the 2011 television film ''Adèle's Choice'' by Olivier Guignard, where she played an 8-year-old Albanian student whose family was threatened with expulsion. This student finds support from her teacher, played by

Miou-Miou Sylvette Herry (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Miou-Miou (), is a French actress. A ten-time César Award nominee, she won the César Award for Best Actress for the 1979 film ''Memoirs of a French Whore''. Her other films inclu ...

. Bajrami had a small role in the 2014 short film ''14 Million Screams'' by

Lisa Azuelos Lisa Azuelos (born Elise-Anne Bethsabée Azuelos; 6 November 1965 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French director, writer, and producer. She is the daughter of singer Marie Laforêt. Biography Lisa Azuelos is the daughter of French singer and actr ...

. She played the title role in the TV film ''Marion'' by Bourlem Guerdjou. ''Marion'' was adapted from the eponymous book by Nora Fraisse retracing the Marion Fraisse affair in which a schoolgirl committed suicide following harassment by her fellow students, and first aired

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info. It is made up of a network of regional television services providing ...

on 27 September 2016. In an interview with ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', Bajrami reflected that this was the first role in which she felt creative control. She read the book and met with the mother of Marion Fraisse. Bajrami starred in two more short films: ''Two Youths Died'' by Tomasso Usberti, which won third prize from the

Cinéfondation La ''Cinéfondation'' is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes Film Festival, created to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers. It was created in 1998 by Gilles Jacob. Since then it has developed complementary ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in 2017, and the 2018 film ''After the Night'' by Valentin Plisson and Maxime Roux. She played the role of Apolline, the ringleader of a group of six intellectually gifted students facing off against their substitute teacher (played by

Laurent Lafitte Laurent Lafitte (born 22 August 1973) is a French actor. He is known for playing the role of Patrick in ''Elle''. In March 2016 he was named as the host of the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival The 69th Cannes Fil ...

) in Sébastien Marnier's 2019 film '' School's Out'', adapted from the eponymous novel by Christophe Dufossé. She was praised for her portrayal of Apolline, with EJ Oakley of The Panoptic stating that "Luana Bajrami is particularly menacing as the verbose and morose Apolline". Bajrami was praised for her portrayal of Sophie in the 2019 independent French film ''

''. That same year, she played the role of Emma in Cedric Khan's ''Happy Birthday'', which focused on a dysfunctional family reunion. In 2020, it was announced that Bajrami was making her directorial debut with the film ''

''. Bajrami was nominated for " Most Promising Actress" at the 2020

César Award Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * C ...

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bajrami, Luana Living people 2001 births Kosovo Albanians French film actresses French film directors Kosovan film directors People from Créteil French women film directors Kosovan women film directors