2022 Edition

Biyouna

Biyouna

Actress, Singer, Dancer

Algeria

She was born 1952 as Baya Bouzar in Belcourt, now known as Belouizdad, Algiers. As a little girl, she often watched famous stars of Egyptian cinema, which drove her to become a professional entertainer. Inhabited very early by a passion for singing, she was part of several troupes, beginning with Fadela Dziria’s band until she became a renowned entertainer during a career that spawned more than five decades. At the age of seventeen, she made her debut in the city's biggest musical theaters. Two years later, she became the dancer at the Copacabana. The same year, director Mustapha Badie spotted her and cast her in her first TV series, The Big House (1973). For Algerian cinema, her roles began with Leila and the Others (1978) in addition to more than twenty films. She also appeared in the last film by Nadir Moknèche, Délice Paloma, where she played the main character, a mafiosa named Madame Aldjeria. In 2006, she performed the role of Coryphée in Sophocles' Electra beside French Jane Birkin in an opera directed by Philippe Calvaio. 

Biyouna continued a career as a singer and in 2001 released a musical album, Raid Zone, produced with composer John Bagnolett.