It has been (already) almost 20 years since the actress Eye Haïdara began her career in cinema and, as a nice gift, the Cannes Film Festival made her its mistress of ceremonies for its 79th edition. Here’s everything you need to know about her.
Discreetly but without slowing down, Eye Haïdara has carved out a good place for itself in French cinema. The actress who started her career on the big screen in 2007, already has almost thirty films to her credit! What do you know about her? Here are its secrets.
What are the origins of Eye Haïdara?
Eye Haïdara was born on March 7, 1983, in Boulogne-Billancourt (in Hauts-de-Seine) and she has Malian origins through her parents. “They live in the south of Bamako, surrounded by hectares of plantations, animals… There are horses, superb nature. I regularly go to see them with my son, and it is above all there that I recharge my batteries.“, she confided to Africa magazinein 2022.
Of her dual culture, Franco-Malian, she said in an interview with Vanity Fair to talk about his character in the series In therapy : “We have the same Malian origins. I also understand this difficulty in finding one’s place, between the culture transmitted at home and the country where one grew up. And above all this need to make your family proud. After all, we all want our parents to watch us.“
Although she was born in the suburbs, she grew up in the heart of Paris. Indeed, Eye Haïdara grew up in the 17th arrondissement of the capital and has very good memories of it. “It was joyful, lively (…) There were always a lot of people at my house. A lot !“, she said to Society. And, at the end of the 2000s, she lived for 9 months in London, after obtaining a Deug in performing arts.
Eye Haïdara mom: what do we know about her family?
Eye Haïdara comes from a family of six children, she has two brothers and three sisters. His father worked as a forklift driver while his mother worked as a contract worker at the Ministry of the Interior.
For her part, Eye Haïdara is the mother of a little boy born in 2017 but remains very secretive about her private life and has not revealed his first name. Near Marie Franceshe declared in 2019 that her ideal weekend was “rent a beautiful house on the banks of the Loire, near Saumur, with the two men of my life, my partner and my son.”A little boy who, like her, “love good food!“
What is the link between Eye Haïdara and Brittany?
Eye Haïdara is very attached to Brittany having participated in several plays given at the Lorient Theater Academy. “I spent a little over three years in Lorient. I even lived on the beach at Fort-Bloqué near Ploemeur. I toured Brittany twice. I had to spend four years in Brittany, it represents a big moment and a very important moment in my career. A very formative period because the stage is a wonderful playground“, she said in 2010 to Here.
What are the main Eye Haïdara films?
Eye Haïdara started her career in cinema almost 20 years ago. His first film, Look at mewas released in 2007. Since then, we have been able to see her in The meaning of the party, The Class Struggle, Two Me or even Mr Mayor, At full speed, The Women’s House…
In 2026, Eye Haïdara is starring in two films: The object of the crimeby Agnès Jaoui (presented out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival) and Mataby Rachel Lang.
Eye Haïdara and her role at the Cannes Film Festival
Asked by France TV about her role as mistress of ceremonies for the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, Eye Haïdara did not hide her joy: “I am honored and proud. I view it with enormous humility and the respect it implies. (…) I want to be sincere, to have fun and to enjoy it. These are my three guidelines.”
The actress, who participated in the collective Black is not my jobwill be the first black actress to take on this role. But for Eye Haïdara, it is secondary. “It didn’t cross my mind. What came to me was rather the idea of a change, of an opening, perhaps generational. (…) I may be less ‘obvious’ on paper, but that makes me want to go even more. It’s a challenge“, she added.
This actor with whom we confuse Eye Haïdara
The actress does not get offended easily and fortunately! Interviewed on video by Slash ahead of the Cannes Film Festival, Eye Haïdara explained that actor Ahmed Sylla has become like her “twin”. And to specify: “We are often told that we are very similar. And I have to tell you one thing, my mother confused us (…) She saw Ahmed on a poster, with a hat, she thought it was me (…) And I was looking at this photo with my son, and my son said: ‘That’s you.’ I said it’s okay, we can’t fight.“
