ARTICLE 1

The Angelie Jolie of Winterslag? “No, I’m just Nora Dari”, says the 17-year-old actress who one day - but not now - wants to adopt a few kids and who is determined to make it in Hollywood. “I have a lead role in the Flemish ‘wtFOCK’, played a role in the Finnish ‘Bullets’ and my French act in ‘Ghost Tropic’ was well received at Cannes,” she says, “A good foundation to go international”

To everyone who’s feeling a bit low and could need a boost: go talk to Nora Dari for 15 minutes. We should know, because we’ve almost never saw such primal force, drive and positivity in a teenager. A teen with a laid-out plan: to become world famous as an actress, with Hollywood as the final destination. The first step has been taken, because Nora just came back from Cannes where she went to promote the arthouse movie ‘Ghost Tropic’ with director Bas Devos. Her big smile shows us that’s she’s still walking on clouds. “I have a big crush on Lukas Dhont (director of ‘Girl’) and he was watching ‘Ghost Tropic’!”, Nora starts. “This already made my year. Other than that, I’ve talked with some producers and I saw Luca Guadagnino, the director of ‘Call me by your name’. I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

Barely three years ago, you were on the set of ‘Patser’.
“It’s right there when I fell in love with everything that movie making entails. When I saw Adil El Arbi and Bilal Fallah (the directors) working on this production, I thought: Ah, so it ís possible. I know now that it doesn’t matter where you come from. You should just go for what you want. My next project was a role in the Finnish tv show ‘Bullets’. It impressed some casting agents, and that’s how the ball went rolling. I don’t have a manager, don’t have a contract with someone, but apparently that wasn’t needed to get a role in ‘Ghost Tropic’. Nice: I’ve acting in English in a Finnish tv show, play the lead in the Flemish show ‘wtFOCK’ and in ‘Ghost Tropic’ I’m speaking French. Perfect, because I want to go international.”

Solid plan.
“I know what I want and that is: movie making. Really, I’m hooked. There’s nothing that makes me happier than this. And if you found something that made you happy, there’s no reason not to go for it.”

Your father works in IT, your mother is a homemaker. Aren’t they scared that their daughter’s dreams are too big?
“I’m very lucky with my parents. Dad came to pick up me from a movie set at 3AM. At 4 o’clock we were in bed and he had to wake up at 6 to go to work, so I could sleep longer, but he did it with a smile. My parents are happy, when their children are happy. And they enjoy what I’m going through: dad went with me to the ‘Ghost Tropic’ movie set in the Dominican Republic and mom accompanied me when I was doing ‘Bullets’. They know I’m serious, that it’s going somewhere.”

In ‘Ghost Tropic’ you’re a Moroccan teenager who struggled with her identity. Do you fit that description?
“I’m a teenager and I’m Moroccan, so that fits *laughs*. Other than that, I think that every girl my age struggles with her identity, no matter where her roots lie. Although, I have to admit it’s a bit more complicated if you have two nationalities. There are moments where I don’t feel Moroccan enough and moments where I don’t feel Belgian enough. I just recently found it it’s not that bad being both Belgian as well as Moroccan, it’s beautiful *pulls a sad face*. Even though, the election results are sad.”

Does that hurt you?
*thinks for a while* “Of course it hurts, but I can’t see that I didn’t saw it coming. And I’m not going to look at the Flemish people differently, because I’m Flemish myself. I don’t blame people, because these people voted out of fear. Sad, because in times like these, we’re supposed to hold each other instead of pushing each other away. People shouldn’t have to worry about a woman walking on the street with a hijab, they should worry about their wallets.”

Are you faced with racism sometimes?
“Sure. I’m muslim, so then you receive hateful reactions on the regular. Sometimes racism is in the little things and not that clear. For example, in class, when they talk about Moroccans and they point at me. It’s not meant to be insulting, but it creates a distance: we and them. If you find yourself in that kind of situations regularly, then you have to be strong, which is not a problem with me *laughs*. I don’t let it get to me, just like I don’t put all my value on positive commentary. I rather go with my own strength.”

How are your studies?
“I’m in my sixth year Economics-Languages. As we speak, my classmates have a French test *laughs*. I have to make up for it later, but that’s not a problem, because I don’t neglect my studies. If I do, my parents will make me stop acting and that can’t happen. If I’m done with high school, maybe I’ll take a gap year. If during that year, the bigger projects don’t come in, I’ll start my studies in Cross Media Management.”

Where does your drive come from?
“I remember a beautiful summer vacation in the south of Morocco, where my grandpa lives. At night, I often went to sit on the roof of the house, with the starry night above me. During one of those nights, I discovered myself. There, at that moment, I told myself: It can’t be that you can’t reach your dreams, if you work hard enough for it. Okay, you need a bit of luck, but how much? When I was back in Belgium, I knew for sure: I’m going for it, nobody will hold me back. The most important thing is that you believe in yourself, what others might think of you. And you’ll meet people on the daily who’ll look at you with sad eyes if you say you want to be an actress. But fuck that, I can’t take that into account.”

What do directors see in you?
“I think they know it’s not about fame with me, but the art.”


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ARTICLE 2

Nora Dari (19) from Genk has secured a lead role again, this time in the new web series ‘Panna’. “Of all the things I’ve done, is this the thing I’m most enthused about”.

She was on the set of ‘Patser’, we saw her in the Scandinavian series ‘Bullets’ and the arthouse movie ‘Ghost Tropic’ ánd she plays the lead in wtFOCK, the GoPlay web series that launched its new season this week. Now, Nora Dari from Genk, will add another accomplishment to her list: she’ll play the lead in ‘Panna’, a web series that’ll be released in the fall. “At first I was just mildly interested,” Nora tells us, “Because I thought: ‘is it a good idea to portray yet another a coming-of-age story?’ But when I read the script, I almost fell over: it’s so good. I absolutely wanted to be part of that.”

What’s so good about it?
“Panna revolves around Afi, Tina, Zizou and Mary, four young football players who dream of a better life. They navigate their lives through a lot of hardships and search for a place amidst the male dominated world of street football. What I like about it, is that it doesn’t focus on the roots of those girls. It’s just about four girls, period. Okay, some of them have an immigration background, but that’s the reality in Borgerhout, where the show takes place. So the image that ‘Panna’ shows, is very realistic.

But the parents of your character are very conservative and Mary tries to meet their expectations. So you will play, just like the arthouse movie ‘Ghost Tropic’, another moroccan girl.
“I simply can’t ignore that, it is what it is in Belgium. That’s why I keep my eye on international projects. In the Netherlands they’re already a bit more evolved in that aspect: there, it doesn’t matter if you’re an actress with different roots. But again, it doesn’t bother me in ‘Panna’, because the show is so raw and realistic. Of all the things I’ve done, this production is the one I’m most enthused about.”

Do you see a lot of similarities between you and Mary?
“I used to play football and just like Mary, I’m a romantic dreamer. But luckily, my parents don’t think it’s a problem, unlike Mary’s parents. My mother always tells me: ‘Enjoy life for two’. If I’m at a party and someone tells me it’s time to go home, I’ll always answer: ‘We’re staying’ *laughs*. So I’ll always follow my mom’s good advice.

What about future plans? Two years ago, you told our newspaper that you were ready for the world.
“That’s still the plan. *laughs*. In the meantime, I’ve graduated high school. I’m studying 'Marketing and Communications’ at PXL in Hasselt, but the will for acting won’t leave me alone. So I’m planning on attending the acting school in Maastricht or Amsterdam. At least, if I get admission, but that’s for 2022.”

Did you receive any international offers?
*laughs* Well... Yes, but I can’t tell anything about that. Although, I’ll admit that there is one offer I’m really excited about. If it goes according to plan, that’ll be a dream come through.

Maybe you’ll be the Angelina Jolie of Winterslag even quicker than expected?
*laughs* I really, really hope so.

Text: © The editorial staff