Nadia Kounda

Jury Member

Born in 1989 in Morocco, Nadia Kounda studied engineering before landing her first role in the 2008 short film Tentations by Mohcine Nadifi. Driven by her passion, she flew to Canada to devote herself to the 7th art, obtaining her bachelor’s degree in Cinematography Studies at the University of Montreal while simultaneously taking roles in cinema and television. She has appeared in various Moroccan and international productions, with her first outstanding role being in Narjiss Nejjar’s The Rif Lover, which earned her several nominations. In 2017, Kounda won El Gouna Star for Best Actress award at the 1st edition of El Gouna Film Festival for her role in Faouzi Bensaidi’s Volubilis. She also appeared in the Egyptian series Abo Omar El Masry by Ahmed Khaled. Vogue Arabia named her among the popular actresses of the Arab world in 2019 while Moroccan magazine TelQuel cited her among the top personas under 40 contributing to change in Morocco in 2021.