He has a background in martial arts, but his love for filmmaking has given him a flourishing career.
Isn’t it amazing to learn about all those individuals and professionals who make sure to listen to their dreams, work around them relentlessly and get closer to their goals in life? This is easier said than implemented, but a few rare gems have shown how it is to be done and how people, by thriving on their passion, pure skill, and strong will to get things done in their career, can get ahead in their respective industries and also make waves through their work. Doing that in films and art can get too challenging, but professionals like Hadj Ali Menad have made all the difference there is in the industry today. He is a French-Algerian director-actor coach who has spellbound people with his incredible creative levels and has made people awe the projects he has been a part of.
Hadj Ali Menad co-directed the famous Algerian series Sultan Achour 10 season 3 in 2021, which Djaffar Gacem created.
Since then, he has always kept making headlines around him and his impeccable work in cinema. Hailing from the Mediterranean, in Oran, Algeria, Hadj Ali Menad had realized his love and passion for cinema at a very young age and would take great inspiration from legendary artists like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. This was another reason why he also got into sports and martial arts. He is an Algerian Kickboxing Champion and received his Kick Boxing Boxthaï coaching diploma in 1999. At the age of 20 in France, he discovered his madness for the movies and his love for cinema, and the first film he saw was Rush Hour 2, which drew him more toward being a part of the movies.
He soon decided to be a director and bought a camera for himself. After co-directing the Algerian series, he still felt there was much more he could do in the industry, which attracted him to acting. Since then, he has honed his skills and become an actor. Recalling his first cinematographic experience in Algeria in 2017, Hadj Ali Menad says he was working on a feature film called “Le héros inconnu” (Unknown Hero). The main character was a dog. All other directors who were approached freaked out, for they had to direct a dog, but Hadj Ali Menad worked relentlessly on the project and coached the dog. The feature film won the first prize at the Arab World Festival in Tunisia.
He also coached the actors of the film Heliopolis in 2018, which was preselected for the Oscars 2022. Besides all this, he has written a series and wants to make it so that it is on a Netflix or Prime video platform. He also gives acting classes in Paris, France, and organizes acting courses. Currently, Hadj Ali Menad is working on various other projects and wants to do it all, be it films, TV shows, TV series, web series, everything.