In 2007, actress Hafsia Herzi broke into the French film industry and gained international attention with her performance in Abdellatif Kechiche's award-winning film La Graine et le mulet/The Secret of the Grain (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2009, France), for which she was awarded the Marcello Mastroianni Prize for Most Promising Actress at the Venice Film Festival, as well as the Most Promising Actress Cesar in France. In the film, set in the Mediterranean port city of Sete, Herzi plays Rym, a dynamic young Maghrebi-French woman who is determined to help her mother's aging and recently unemployed partner, Slimane (her stepfather for all intents and purposes), achieve his dream of opening a couscous restaurant and building something to pass on to his children (see Figure 5.1). This was Herzi's first major role in a feature film and the young actress's performance, including the long (and much remarked) belly dance that her character undertakes in the film's final sequence, opened doors for her professionally and effectively launched her career. La Graine et le mulet garnered media attention, both in France and internationally, at the time of its release in December 2007 and after the Cesar awards in February 2008, and Herzi appeared on the covers of publications such as Cahiers du cinéma and Les Inrockuptibles. Shortly after her recognition at the Venice Film Festival, Herzi began receiving increasing numbers of film proposals, and her debut role quickly led to others. Since the release of La Graine et le mulet, Herzi has appeared in a diverse corpus of more than twenty feature films, with over half of those in a lead or key supporting role.

Herzi remains best known for her portrayal of Rym, a character whose identity is firmly rooted in the south of France, yet when considered through a broad lens, the actress's films and creative path reflect an overarching desire for mobility and diversity in terms of projects and roles, and this includes a notable global dimension. Geographically, the actress's films are set in various countries in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, including France, Belgium, Morocco, Iraq, Tunisia, Algeria, and Israel, and the protagonists in them may also move across borders.