Sayyid El Alami, a rising cinema hope: It took time for children of immigrants to accept themselves

He comes straight from a screening, dressed in shorts, a T-shirt and sneakers. A member of the Revelation jury at the latest Deauville Festival, he juggles appointments with a cigarette and a smile. At 28, Sayyid El Alami is quietly making a name for himself, taking up space calmly and talking about himself with humility. After an appearance in Zombi Child (2019) by Bertrand Bonello, he found himself catapulted to California during the COVID-19 pandemic, headlining Messiah (2020), a Netflix superproduction, despite having taken only a few improv classes. On his first day of shooting, his mother on screen dies in his arms, under the gaze of 300 extras and a flurry of drones. The baptism by fire is harsh, but successful.The pandemic brings him back to Paris, where Antoine Chevrollier entrusts him with the role of Malik Oussekine, a student...