A difficult childhood?
It is always difficult for immigrants, but in my case it was very painful. Our parents came from another world.
What did they do?
My mother gave birth to 11 children in 15 years. She was always pregnant. How can you be a mother if you have such a life? My father worked at night guarding a train station.
When and why did you run away from home?
I wanted to be a free woman, today that is still the most important thing for me. I didn’t want to abide by my father’s law. I left when I was 16 years old.
What was the problem with his father?
He was lost, he was an illiterate and violent alcoholic, he came from an archaic world and that was his vision of the world.
You went to Paris.
I had to find my way. He was going from night club to night club. I was happy.
But what did he eat?
I had friends here and there, it was easy and very soon I became a model for Christian Louboutin, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Azzedin Alaïa, and they were my great friends.
How did they find out?
Because I was dancing like crazy at the Palace every night, ha ha ha. The photographer Jean-Paul Goude noticed me, I was not the typical girl of the time.
What set her apart?
I walked with attitude, smoking, chewing gum, I was arrogant, a girl with character, and I wouldn’t let anyone step on me.
In the 80s, models were like goddesses.
It was the explosion of the top-models, they came to shout my name when I paraded.
And didn’t that drive her a little crazy?
I was not ready for fame, I was very scared, I kept my distance, I did not trust people. Then I already had my children and I worked as the fashion director of Azzedine Alaïa. First I was in front of the camera and then behind, it was very interesting.
And the next step was the cinema.
I started making documentaries about Jean-Paul Gautier and Christian Louboutin. I did one about the Arab spring and the young people who revolted: I went to shoot Tunisia in the middle of the revolution, with a curfew, but I was happy for that awakening.
What happened to that movement?
It seems that it has failed, but it is not true. It has had repercussions, things are changing, albeit slowly because our world was so archaic. My latest documentary is Beyond the Veil, about women living and working in the Middle East.
And what do you want to tell?
The idea was to fight against stereotypes and the victimization of Arab women in the West. It shows strong women, fighters: chefs, artists, writers, designers… women like us. It is the other side of the veil. I remember that I interviewed a Tunisian artist who was wearing a burqa.
curious combination.
Fascinating, because she was totally covered but at the same time she was a very free woman. Her husband helped her, took her bag and even took pictures of her. I can’t imagine an Arab man doing that for his wife, it was like their roles were reversed. I think keeping his face hidden from him was an artistic act and it works.
What do you think of the Taliban regime?
Half the population cannot be subjugated, one way or another they will end up understanding that they need women for the health of the country.
Having been raised in the Muslim culture, was it difficult to be a model?
It was very difficult to pose in front of the cameras. I never did lingerie or posed nude.
What fundamental events have marked your life?
When I was young I was ignorant with very strong ideas, but I have not stopped learning every day. One day you think that something is essential and soon you realize that it is not so important, you cannot be exhaustive, everything is changeable. Today I am more skeptical.
What has been your best age?
Now, because I accept myself much more than before, that I felt uncomfortable with my body, with my hair, with everything. Today I see the changes of age in me, but I think: “Well, it is what it is.” In life you continually learn, the day you stop, you die.
The fundamental thing you have learned?
To be much more aware of what I say, because words can hurt. Before I said what was going through my head. And I learned to be grateful.
What are you thankful for?
Everything, even my childhood, which was very difficult but made me take control of my life. You have to accept the past because it has made you who you are.
Have you seen your parents again?
No, and my mom passed away a year ago, that’s life. She lived with a violent alcoholic, she had Stockholm syndrome, life was very hard for her, I can’t blame her.
