Biyouna

Birthday: 1952-09-13
Birthplace: Alger, Algeria
Gender: Female
Owned By: Unowned

Baya Bouzar (Arabic: باية بوزار; born September 13, 1952), known by the stage name Biyouna (بيونة), is an Algerian singer, dancer, and actress born in Belcourt, now known as Belouizdad, Algiers, Algeria.

Having a very early passion for singing, she was a member of several groups : first in Fadhéla Dziria's group where she played tambourine, another that she directed with her partner Flifla, and finally her own where she was the main vocalist and became sought after for wedding receptions.

At the age of 17, she began performing in some of the biggest cabarets in the city and at 19 started dancing at the Copacabana.

That same year, the director Mustapha Badie gave her a singing part in his first soap opera, La Grande Maison (1973), where she played Fatma. This show was adapted from a novel by Mohamed Dib. She became well-known thanks to this role.

She appeared in two Algerian films : Leila and the others, by Sid Ali Mazif in 1978, and The Neighbor, by Ghaouti Bendedouche in 2000. She also performed some one-woman shows. In 1999, Nadir Moknèche offered her the role of Meriem in Madame Osmane's Harem which she produced in France. This film was followed by Viva Laldjéri in 2003.

Between 2002 and 2005, Biyouna had success with a trilogy based on the theme of Ramadan called 'Nass Mlah City.

She appeared in the last film of Nadir Moknèche, Délice Paloma, where she played the main character, a mafiosa named Madame Aldjeria. In 2006 she performed the role of Coryphée in Sophocles' Elektra beside Jane Birkin in an opera directed by Philippe Calvaio. In 2007 she had a small role in the Algerian film Rendez-vous avec le destin.

In 2009, she played La Celestina at the Vingtième Théâtre in Paris. For Ramadan, 2010, Biyouna was one of the stars in a sitcom broadcast on Nessma TV, Nsibti Laaziza.

Meanwhile, she was continuing her singing career and in 2001 issued the album Raid Zone, produced with the composer John Bagnolett. After the success of this album and her participation in Jérome Savary's Opéra de Casbah she brought out another album called Blonde dans la casbah. She had been planning this album for some time. Biyouna took her time, carefully choosing a Franco-Algerian repertoire which explored both cultures.

She lives with her husband and four children in a suburb of Algiers

Credits

Year Title Character
2018-10-17 Belleville Cop Zohra
2018-08-08 Neuilly sa mère, sa mère ! Fatima
2018-05-22 The Age of the Stateless Rada
2018-05-15 On va manquer ! The Mother
2017-04-26 I Still Hide to Smoke Aïcha
2014-09-16 La voyante Yasmina
2014-05-28 Take-Away Romance La grand-mère d'Amelle
2014-02-12 The Three Brothers: The Return Grand-mère de Sarah
2013-05-08 Cheba Louisa Zohra
2013-05-01 Mohamed Dubois Djamila
2012-06-26 Bay of Algiers Bibi
2012-06-20 Aïcha : Vacances infernales Biyouna
2011-11-02 The Source Vieux Fusil
2011-09-07 Aïcha : La grande débrouille Biyouna
2011-03-02 Aïcha : Job à tout prix Biyouna
2010-12-08 Holiday Eva Lopez
2010-10-27 Bacon on the Side Houria
2009-05-13 Aïcha Biyouna
2008-12-16 Tomboy Lela
2007-07-11 Délice Paloma Zineb Agha / Madame Aldjéria
2006-05-17 Beur Blanc Rouge La mère de Wassila
2005-11-01 Where Fig Trees Grow Fatima
2004-04-07 Viva Algeria Papicha
2002-01-01 La Voisine
2000-07-12 The Harem of Madame Osmane Meriem
1999-01-01 Les Vacances de l'apprenti
1993-01-01 The Casbah of Algiers
1991-01-01 Children of the Sun Zainab
1978-01-01 Hassan Terro au Maquis
1977-01-02 Leila and the Others Malika