Aïssa Maïga facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Aïssa Maïga
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Maïga at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
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Aïssa Maïga
25 May 1975 Dakar, Senegal
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| Occupation | Actress, producer, activist |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Awards | Best Actress for Bianco e nero (2008) at the Festival du Cinema Italien de Bastia. |
Aïssa Maïga (born May 25, 1975) is a French actress who was born in Senegal. She is also a director, writer, producer, and activist. She has worked with famous directors like Michael Haneke and Michel Gondry. She also starred in the first movie directed by actor Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Maïga is a strong voice for making the movie industry fair for everyone. She speaks out against racial discrimination, which is when people are treated unfairly because of their race. She started a group called DiasporAct to support Black actors and actresses in France.
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Early Life
Maïga was born in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. Her father was from Mali and her mother was from Senegal. As a child, she spent holidays in Mali with her family. Her father's family came from a small town near the Sahara desert.
When she was four years old, she moved to France to live with her aunt and uncle. Her father, Mohamed Maïga, was a journalist. He was killed in 1984.
Acting Career
Getting Started (1996–2005)
Maïga's first big role was in the movie Saraka Bô (1996). People liked her acting, and she soon appeared in other films. She played a rebellious girl in Michael Haneke's movie Code Unknown (2000). She worked with Haneke again in his 2005 film Caché.
Her role in the movie Russian Dolls (2005) helped make her a well-known actress in French cinema.
Becoming a Star (2005–2011)
In 2006, Maïga starred in the movie Bamako. For this role, she was nominated for a César Award, which is like the French version of the Oscars. She was the first Black French actress to be nominated for the Most Promising Actress award. This made her one of the most famous Black actresses in France.
That same year, she was in a movie called Paris, je t'aime, which means "Paris, I love you". It was shown at the famous Cannes Film Festival.
In 2008, she starred in an Italian movie called Bianco e nero. The movie was about a romance between people of different races. For her role, Maïga won the Best Actress award at an Italian film festival in 2009.
International Fame (2012–Present)
Maïga starred in the fantasy film Mood Indigo (2014) with famous French actors Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris. In 2016, she was in the Netflix movie The African Doctor.
In 2019, she starred in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. The movie was directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor and tells a true story about a boy in Malawi. Maïga played the boy's mother. The film was shown at the Sundance Film Festival and is available on Netflix.
Activism for Change
Maïga is a leader in the movement to bring more diversity to French movies. She speaks out because there are not enough roles for Black actors. When there are roles, they are often based on stereotypes. Maïga uses her fame to ask for change.
The DiasporAct Group
Maïga and fifteen other Black actresses created a group called DiasporAct. Together, they work to support Black women in the French film industry.
The Book 'Black Is Not My Job'
The DiasporAct group wrote a book called Noire n’est pas mon métier, which means Black Is Not My Job. Maïga wrote the introduction. The book is a collection of essays where the actresses share their personal stories. They write about the challenges and unfairness they face.
“I’ve often asked myself why I’m one of the only black actresses to work in a country as racially mixed as France.”—Aïssa Maïga, Black is Not My Job
The book was released during the Cannes Film Festival and became very successful in France. It started important conversations about the need for more diversity in movies.
Protest at the Cannes Film Festival
In 2018, Maïga and the DiasporAct group held a protest on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. The sixteen women stood together, raised their fists, and danced to the song "Diamonds" by Rihanna.
Their protest was a joyful but powerful way to demand an end to racism in the film industry. They all wore matching outfits designed by Olivier Rousteing. He said:
“I think we are really at a huge turning point in every industry...We are living in a world where we are trying to break from the past and define what we want from the future.”
The protest received a lot of positive attention from the media, which praised the women for their style and courage.
Speaking Out at the César Awards
In 2020, Maïga gave a powerful speech at the César Awards ceremony. She pointed out that very few Black, Arab, or Asian actors and filmmakers were nominated for awards.
During her speech, she said that out of 1,600 guests, she could count only 12 Black people in the room. She spoke about how Black people are often ignored or given stereotypical roles in French movies and TV.
"We survived whitewashing, blackface, tonnes of dealer roles, housekeepers with a Bwana accent...but we are not going to leave French cinema alone."—Aïssa Maïga, 2020 César awards
Her speech surprised the audience and made everyone think about the lack of diversity in French cinema.
Charity Work
Maïga has worked with charities to help people in Africa. She was an ambassador for a campaign called Stand Up for African Mothers.
In 2013, she traveled to Uganda with a group to support local midwives. Midwives are health workers who help women give birth safely. They met a Ugandan midwife named Esther Madudu and visited health centers and a nursing school.
Selected Filmography
Here are some of Aïssa Maïga's most well-known films:
- Code Unknown (2000)
- Russian Dolls (2005)
- Caché (2005)
- Bamako (2006)
- Paris, je t'aime (2006)
- Black and White (2008)
- Mood Indigo (2013)
- The African Doctor (2016)
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)
