After he graduated from the Montreal Film School Hicham Hajji spent a year working on high profile music videos. He then ventured to Morocco where his filmmaking career began in earnest, working on feature films as a first assistant director. Founding his own production company in 2008 in Morocco, Hicham has since opened a branch in Los Angeles where he now resides.
Hicham has worked as a line producer on films such as Werner Herzog’s Queen of the Desert (2015) starring Nicole Kidman, James Franco and Robert Pattinson.
His directorial debut Redemption Day (2021) had awards bestowed upon it long before its release and was quite the gamble for Hicham, as he staked all of his finance on the movie. The man is nothing if not committed.
In this fascinating interview, Hicham and presenter Aiysha Jebali discuss the challenges of shooting on location in North Africa, how Ocean’s Eleven (2001) star Andy Garcia came to be involved, and what advice he would give to aspiring filmmakers.
Redemption Day (2001) also stars Gary Dourdan (CSI Investigation (2000 – 2015)), Serinda Swan (Inhumans (2017), Ballers (2015 – 2019)), Ernie Hudson of Ghostbusters (1984) fame and Martin Donovan who featured in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet (2020).
Credits
Introductory words and artwork: Richard Williams
Images courtesy of Saban Films
Thanks to Katrina Wan PR
Scottish Tunisian actress. Yes, that's a thing. BAME. POC.
I own this thing. Being creative makes me tick. Film lover. Coffee hater. Website manager, headline and copywriter, video editor, graphic/motion designer, editor, presenter...
