Adam Bessa
New faces of French cinema 2025 – Adam Bessa
Meet the new faces of French cinema. Unifrance’s 10 to Watch were selected by international journalists after making a name for themselves at major global festivals in 2024 before breaking out on screens around the world in 2025.
Adam Bessa was born in France to Tunisian parents and speaks several languages, a skill set that has enabled him to shift seamlessly between roles at home and abroad, from Hollywood to more auteur-driven fare.
He burst onto the scene with Sofia Djama’s The Blessed that earned him a César award “Revelations” nomination. After a slew of international projects including Mosul, Extraction, Haute Couture and The Channel, his career took on a new dimension when he starred in Lotfy Nathan’s Harka that earned him the acting award in Cannes where the film premiered in Un Certain Regard. He was back in Cannes last year with Jonathan Millet’s Ghost Trail in Critics’ Week that once again earned him a Cesar Revelations nod. He is set to star in Asghar Farhadi’s upcoming feature Parallel Tales alongside Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel and Pierre Niney.
«When I act in English vs Arabic, it’s a different vibe. It’s like fresh air for me – I like to change it up»
What inspired you to become an actor?
Adam Bessa:
My career is driven by languages. Each one represents a different world that I get into. When I act in English vs Arabic, it’s a different vibe. It’s like fresh air for me – I like to change it up. It’s like stepping into new skin every time. I change skin when I change language – it’s another universe, another way of thinking, another mentality. Film came pretty naturally for me. I spent my teenage years watching movies – it was first a hobby and a passion and after a while, I said ‘why not give this a try as a career?’
What is your best Cannes memory?
Adam Bessa:
Winning the prize for best actor for Harka in 2022.
What is the best film you’ve seen recently?
Adam Bessa:
The Apprentice. It’s going to age well – it’s a great film.
What is your favourite film of all time?
Adam Bessa:
James Gray’s Two Lovers. I could watch it over and over again.
What is your favourite French film?
Adam Bessa:
Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher
If you could have dinner with anyone – dead or alive – in Cannes, who would you want at your table?
Adam Bessa:
Johnny Depp.
What do you like most about the Cannes Film Festival?
Adam Bessa:
I love the fact that you can meet people you would meet over perhaps the course of one full year in the span of four days. The entire planet comes together. Plus, there are different layers of cinema – big films, smaller films. I love this festival very much because it allows smaller films to have a life after in this crazy market we are in right now with all the pressures of platforms and numbers.
Not a lot of the same opportunities for smaller exist today. Strong buzz in Cannes even for a small film can project a director or film and bring attention to something that would have been swallowed by the industry in another context. People can talk more about a small film in Cannes than Mission: Impossible.
Where else does that exist ? In a way, it’s a form of resistance. Cannes is a stamp of quality – people respect it and the label still matters and it doesn’t depend on money or box office gross. That’s priceless.
Interview by Rebecca Leffler
Photos by Ludovica Arcero
