‘CODA’ Star Troy Kotsur Joins Mounia Meddour’s ‘Houria’ as Executive Producer Ahead of Rome Festival World Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

Troy Kotsur, the Oscar-winning actor of “CODA,” has joined Mounia Meddour’s uplifting drama “Houria” ahead of its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival.

Meddour’s follow-up to her Cesar-winning film “Papicha” tells the story of Houria, a gifted dancer with dreams of joining the Algerian National Ballet. To make ends meet, she bets in clandestine fights overnight. However after winning a final, Houria is violently assaulted by a man determined to get his money back. When she wakes up in a hospital, she no longer is able to speak and will certainly never dance again. Refusing to abandon her dream, she throws herself, heart and soul, into her physical recovery and meets at a rehab center other women damaged by life. Houria resolves to help them transcend their wounded bodies and stand tall by teaching them how to dance through a choreography inspired by sign language.

“It is very dear to me to see genuine representation of Deaf and disabled people on the big screen,” said Kotsur. “And I was moved by the authenticity of this story and the Deaf actors’ performance in the film, as well as the use of sign language in such an inspired choreography. Houria finding another manner to communicate is such a brilliant metaphorical way to represent freedom of expression. It is a film that the world needs to see to better understand the beauty and value of sign. I am incredibly proud to be a part of Houria and will encourage everyone to experience this gem of a film.”

Kotsur most recently made history as the first Deaf man to take home an acting award at the Oscars. He was recognized for his supporting role in Sian Heder’s “CODA,” a warm-hearted drama about the only hearing member of a Deaf family. The movie, which was loosely based on the French film “La Famille Belier,” went on to win best picture at the Oscars.

Up next, Kotsur is executive producing and stars as the lead of an upcoming Disney+ series about the California Riverside School for the Deaf and their football team that recently went to the state finals. 

Meddour, who won the 2020 Academy Gold Fellowship Award for Women from the AMPAS, made her feature debut with “Papicha,” which premiered at Cannes’s Un Certain Regard in 2019. It went on to win two Cesars for best first film and most promising actress for Lyna Khoudri, along with the Humanitarian Award from the International Press Academy. The film, which follows rebellious young women who refuse to bow down to fundamentalism, could not be released in Algeria but went on to represent the country at the Oscars.

“Houria” reunites Meddour and Khoudri who plays the lead role. Khoudri’s credits also include “The French Dispatch” and “The Blessed,” for which she won best actress at Venice in the Horizons sidebar in 2017.

“Houria” was produced by The Ink Connection’s Grégoire Gensollen and Xavier Gens, and High Sea Production’s Patrick André, in co-production with France 2 Cinéma, Cirta Films, Les Productions du Ch’timi, Scope Pictures, Same Player and Solar Entertainment. Le Pacte is handling French distribution and has set a wide theatrical release on March 15. Wild Bunch International is representing world sales.

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