With more than 100 acting credits and six features as a director, including 2016’s Monsieur Chocolat starring Omar Sy, you would think Roschdy Zem might be a little jaded by now.
The Franco-Moroccan star, whose career began in 1987, has reached the pinnacle for many actors, sharing the Best Actor prize at Cannes in 2006 for Days of Glory, the story of four North African soldiers fighting for France in the Second World War. More recently, he won the French Cesar for Oh Mercy! (2019), a taut police procedural that confirmed his range beyond the stoic roles that made his name.
Yet when we meet, just weeks before his 60th birthday, Zem is as enthusiastic as an actor half his age.
“It feels like I’m beginning,” he tells The National. “I’m an eternal beginner as an actor. I feel like I’m searching for a new way to work too, you know? So I’m getting out of my comfort zone. That’s why I like to work in foreign countries, trying to speak in another language with other people. It’s interesting, getting out of my routine.”
Mostly, he has acted in English, Arabic and French, but sometimes he goes further afield.
“Sometimes I’m acting in a language that I don’t even understand,” he laughs. “I played in Hebrew [for 2005’s Live and Become], I played in Serbian [2006’s La Californie], and I don’t understand what I’m saying! It’s just phonetics.”
Does that change the way he acts? “I don’t know,” he shrugs. “I don’t want to analyse it. That’s how I feel. I don’t really know the reason, and I don’t really need to know the reason.”
Zem’s latest film Elisa, currently on the festival circuit after its premiere in Venice, offers another opportunity to break routine. Directed by Leonardo Di Costanzo, the drama casts Zem as Alaoui, a criminologist who meets Elisa (Barbara Ronchi), a woman imprisoned for a decade after killing her sister and burning the body.
Their sessions together – inspired by real-life research by Italian criminologists Adolfo Ceretti and Lorenzo Natali – probe the grey areas between morality and madness.
With dialogue in Italian and French, Zem’s performance is stripped of any cinematic glamour, far from Hollywood’s stylised depictions of criminal profilers. (Manhunter’s Will Graham, for example, feels worlds away.)
Di Costanzo cast Zem after seeing the “kind, human and empathetic” police commissioner he played in Oh Mercy! – qualities Zem again channels here. He met a real criminologist to prepare, though he laughs at how far the portrayal departs from psychological accuracy.
“He was more elegant than I am, more bright, but I wanted to lower the image of criminology,” he says. “We think criminologists are psychologists, but they’re not.
“Here, he’s trying to study why an ordinary woman commits a crime, and he doesn’t have the skills to analyse in a psychological way, so he says things that psychologists would never say. I showed the script to my ex-wife – she’s a psychologist – and she said: ‘Oh, my god! He says terrible things. You couldn’t say that as a therapist.’”
The story draws from the real case of Stefania Albertani, an Italian woman convicted of killing her sister – but Zem insists Elisa avoids true-crime sensationalism.
“The difference between a woman like Elisa and us is very small,” he reflects. “You can cross the border to the other side depending on the situation – a very bad situation – and that’s why it’s so fascinating.”
That sense of ordinariness, he believes, is also key to his own appeal. Born in Gennevilliers, in the north-west suburbs of Paris, after his parents emigrated from Morocco, Zem grew up in a modest home.
His father was a construction worker, his mother a homemaker. At one point the family relied on Catholic Relief Services, and Zem spent several years living with a Belgian family before returning home at the age of six. Later, he helped his parents sell jeans at a flea market in Clignancourt – a long way from the red carpets of Cannes and Venice.
His route into acting was via an amateur theatre course, and for years he was cast as the archetypal “tough guy” – the silent, muscular presence. That image began to shift with Savages (2019), in which he played a politician of Algerian descent on the verge of becoming France’s first Maghrebi president. A Muslim president? Sacre bleu!
Followed by Oh Mercy! and now Elisa, his recent work charts a new path for North African representation in French cinema – intelligent, sensitive, empathetic men whose strength lies in thought, not aggression.
“I never saw myself like that,” he admits. “And now? I’ve got no choice.”
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
Poland Statement
All people fleeing from Ukraine before the armed conflict are allowed to enter Poland. Our country shelters every person whose life is in danger - regardless of their nationality.
The dominant group of refugees in Poland are citizens of Ukraine, but among the people checked by the Border Guard are also citizens of the USA, Nigeria, India, Georgia and other countries.
All persons admitted to Poland are verified by the Border Guard. In relation to those who are in doubt, e.g. do not have documents, Border Guard officers apply appropriate checking procedures.
No person who has received refuge in Poland will be sent back to a country torn by war.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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