Image via Telerama
Tahar Rahim, a French Algerian actor, has been long listed for the 2021 British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards (BAFTA). At 39 years old, Rahim is competing in the Leading Actor category for his performance in “The Mauritanian,” which is up for release at the end of February 2021.
The BAFTA isn’t the only award Tahar Rahim is up for, as he also nabbed a nomination for the same movie in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama category at the 2021 Golden Globes. The French Algerian actor is renowned for his roles in the 2021 mini crime series “The Serpent,” the US series “A Looming Tower” and the film “Mary Magdalene,” in which he starred with actors Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara.
The Mauritanian stars alongside Hollywood A-Listers, Benedict Cumberbatch, Shailene Woodley, and Jodie Foster, and conveys the story of a man called Mohamedou Ould Salahi, who is fighting for his freedom after being taken into custody without charge by the US government following the 9/11 terror attacks.
Not the only film featuring an Arab actor up for an award at the BAFTAs, “Limbo,” directed by British filmmaker, Ben Sharrock, stars Egyptian British actor, Amir El Masry, who plays a Syrian asylum-seeker who lives on a small Scottish island. The film is long listed for the Outstanding British Film Award. El Masry was also nominated for Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards, and in November 2020, he made it on the 2020 BAFTA Breakthrough Brits list.
