Her real name is Jamila Ben Ammor, but the Moroccans call her Amina Rachid, or “Lalla Houbbi”, in reference to the film directed by Mohamed Abderrahmane Tazi in 1996.
Amina Rachid entered the world of art at a very young age, at a time when, for women, artistic practice was seen as infamy and dishonour. She was able to establish herself thanks to her talent and love of acting and to become, years later, an icon and pioneer in theatre, cinema, television and radio, where she presented about 3,500 works composed of plays and soap operas. It is thanks to these works that she was able to meet Abdallah Chakroun, whom she married after a long love story that only death could put an end to.
Until the last days of her life, Amina Rachid kept her look and elegance. Her appearances with her beautiful caftans and takchitats and her make-up, notably on the red carpet of the Marrakech International Film Festival, have continued to amaze photographers and the media, as well as her fans who have always found in her a model for Moroccan women who know how to associate authenticity with modernity.
In addition to her early work in radio and theatre, Amina Rachid has been involved in many motion pictures that have been admired and applauded by audiences and critics, including her role in Mohamed Abderrahmane Tazi’s film “In Search of My Wife’s Husband”, a director with whom she also worked in the film “Lalla Houbbi”. She has also distinguished herself in the films “The Fate of a Woman” by Hakim Nouri, “The Angels of the Devil” by Ahmed Bolan and “Burning Hearts” by Ahmed Maanouni, in addition to her successful comedy “Diabetic, hypertensive and she refuses to die”.
Amina Rachid also responded to Egyptian film giants, such as Kamal Echennaoui, with whom she signed her first film on the big screen. It is “Tabib bil afia”, a Franco-Moroccan-Egyptian production, shot in Morocco, and in which actors of the same caliber as Hammadi Ammor, Bachir Laalj, Abderrazzak Hakam, Larbi Doughmi, Tayeb Seddiki, Mohamed Said Afifi, Hammadi Tounsi…
Amina Rachid’s artistic career has been rich of countless successes; a career that began in 1960 and was crowned by the royal distinction awarded to her by His Majesty King Mohammed VI in July 2006.
Amina Rachid, an undeniable icon of Moroccan theater and cinema, passed away last week at the age of 83.
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