Biyouna
Biyouna (بيونة), whose real name was Baya Bouzar (باية بوزار), was an Algerian actress, singer, and dancer born on September 13, 1952, in Belcourt, a working-class neighborhood of Algiers, and died on November 25, 2025, at the Beni Messous Hospital in Algiers, at the age of 73, from lung cancer. A major figure in Maghrebi culture, she is remembered as a free-spirited, popular artist deeply attached to Algeria.
Born into a family where music played a significant role, particularly through her sister, the singer Leïla El Djazaïria, Biyouna developed a passion for singing, dancing, and acting at a very young age. As a teenager, she first joined Fadela Dziria's troupe, where she sang in the choir and played percussion, before forming her own group with which she performed at weddings and popular festivals in Algiers. By seventeen, she was already performing in the capital's cabarets, before becoming a dancer at the famous Copacabana at nineteen, which brought her to the attention of the artistic community.
Her acting career began in the early 1970s when director Mustapha Badie spotted her and gave her the role of Fatma in the television series La Grande Maison, adapted from the novel by Mohammed Dib. This first major role made her instantly popular with the Algerian public and opened the doors of television and film for her, where her fiery temperament, humor, and outspokenness became her trademark. She then distinguished herself by alternating between melodramas, comedies, and one-woman shows, establishing herself as a key figure on Algerian television.
From the late 1990s onward, Biyouna's career took off in France, notably with the film *Le Harem de Madame Osmane*, followed by *La Voisine* and *Viva Laldjérie*, which brought her to the attention of a wider audience. In 2007, she captivated audiences in *Délice Paloma*, where she portrayed Madame Aldjéria, a charismatic mafia matriarch, a role often considered one of the highlights of her filmography. Her singular presence, her deep voice, and her ability to blend tragedy and comedy made her a sought-after actress for numerous directors on both sides of the Mediterranean.
At the same time, Biyouna pursued a successful musical career, releasing the album Raid Zone in the early 2000s, followed by Une blonde Dans La Casbah, projects blending Algerian influences with contemporary Franco-Algerian arrangements. She also participated in musical productions such as Fellag's Casbah Opera and lent her voice to various projects. She also became a star of television series, notably with Nass Mlah City, broadcast during Ramadan, and the Tunisian series Nsibti Laaziza, where her colorful characters left a lasting impression on Maghrebi audiences.
The last years of her life were overshadowed by illness, lung cancer, which she battled for several years and which was regularly discussed in the Algerian and French media. She passed away on November 25, 2025, in Algiers, at the Beni Messous hospital, after her health deteriorated due to respiratory complications. She leaves behind a career spanning more than half a century and immense popularity, a symbol of a free, audacious, funny, and moving female artist who navigated the changing times without ever abandoning her personality or her language, moving seamlessly between Algerian Darija, colloquial Arabic, and French.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 0.3048 |
| Birthday | 1952-09-13 |
| Place of Birth | Alger, Algeria |
| Also Known As | Baya Bouzar, Биюна, بيونة, باية بوزار, 比尤纳, |
1991
Children of the Sun
9/2
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Children of the Sun
2010
Holiday
4.679/14
After a crazy and tumultuous night embellished with singular encounters, Michel's awakening is brutal and painful. Not only does he find himself accus...
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1999
Les Vacances de l'apprenti
10/1
The former teammate of the famous Inspector Tahar, "the Apprentice" turned Inspector Yahia, will conduct his final investigation in the city of Bejaia...
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Les Vacances de l'apprenti
2011
The Source
6.56/192
A comedy/drama set in a village and centered on a battle of the sexes, where women threaten to withhold sexual favours as long as the men refuse to in...
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The Source
2007
Délice Paloma
5.9/8
Atop 17 flights of stairs, Madame Aldjeria rules over a crew of beautiful young women with the help of faithful son Riyad and clever lawyer Djaffar. M...
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Délice Paloma
2002
La Voisine
10/1
Directed by Ghaouti Bendedouche.
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La Voisine
1978
Hassan Terro au Maquis
10/1
While trying by all means to stay out of the bloody turmoil caused by the Battle of Algiers, Hassan, an honest and naive family man, is wrongfully acc...
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Hassan Terro au Maquis
2012
Aïcha : Vacances infernales
6.2/7
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Aïcha : Vacances infernales
2004
Viva Algeria
5.75/12
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Viva Algeria
2013
Cheba Louisa
4.7/9
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Cheba Louisa
2013
Mohamed Dubois
4.8/125
Arnaud Dubois may be the heir to a bank, but he prefers to call himself Mohamed. Having fallen out with his father, he turns his back on the family re...
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Mohamed Dubois
2006
Beur Blanc Rouge
4.25/12
Le match France - Algérie vient chambouler le train-train de Brahim et Mouloud. Cet évènement va diviser les deux amis : Brahim revendique son identit...
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Beur Blanc Rouge
2018
On va manquer !
1/1
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On va manquer !
2000
The Harem of Madame Osmane
6.15/10
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The Harem of Madame Osmane
2014
Take-Away Romance
5.307/135
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Take-Away Romance
1993
The Casbah of Algiers
10/1
The daily life and tribulations of colorful residents in the millennial popular district of the Casbah of Algiers.
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The Casbah of Algiers
1977
Leila and the Others
9.5/2
The story of Algerian women trying to live in 1970s Algeria where the society is between conservative values and progressive modern Algeria.
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Leila and the Others
2011
Aïcha : La grande débrouille
6.2/10
Rid of her rival Gloria, Aïcha will do everything to make her boss proud, with Ginette's help. Patrick presents her with a love ultimatum: their mothe...
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Aïcha : La grande débrouille
2011
Aïcha : Job à tout prix
5.3/10
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Aïcha : Job à tout prix
2009
Aïcha
6.3/11
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Aïcha
2005
Where Fig Trees Grow
10/2
An ensemble piece set in a North African neighbourhood in Toulon.
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Where Fig Trees Grow
2010
Bacon on the Side
4.877/154
Djalil Boudaoud and Justine Lacroix are a surgeon and a television reporter who enter a romantic relationship despite the objections of their families...
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Bacon on the Side
2017
I Still Hide to Smoke
6.9/47
Α tragi-comedy about 9 women of different ages and various backgrounds that gather in an Algerian hammam to talk about their lives.
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I Still Hide to Smoke
2014
La Voyante
5/1
Véra Bellini fights with her psychic friends for their gift to be recognized by medicine. But her opponent Doctor Pelletier thoughly resists and will...
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La Voyante
2018
Belleville Cop
5/391
When a childhood friend from Miami gets killed after he comes to warn of encroaching drug gangs, Baaba moves to Miami and teams up with a local office...
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Belleville Cop
2008
Tomboy
4/1
One morning Noureddine, who always considered himself a little boy, discovers that his mother Fatima lied to him for 11 years and, in fact, he is a g...
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Tomboy
2018
The Age of the Stateless
6.6/9
Sira, a former refugee, works as a translator for OFPRA (the French Office for the Protection of Stateless Persons and Migrants). She unscrupulously f...
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The Age of the Stateless
2018
Neuilly sa mère, sa mère !
5.4/342
In 2008, Sami Benboudaoud discovered the hell of Neuilly-sur-Seine. Ten years later, now that everything is for the best for Sami who brilliantly comp...
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Neuilly sa mère, sa mère !
2012
Bay of Algiers
3.4/6
The writer Louis Gardel remembers his youth in Algeria. In 1955, Louis is 15 years old and lives with his grandmother Zoé. Zoé is friend with presid...
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Bay of Algiers
2014
The Three Brothers: The Return
5.047/472
Three brothers are reunited on the occasion of the death of his mother. The three are in a difficult stage of their lives due to economic difficulties...
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The Three Brothers: The Return
يد الساحرة
0/0
An old lady and her daughter have murdered a child for witchcraft purposes. The witch's trial nearly led to an uprising, as the population wanted to l...
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يد الساحرة
2013
Queens of the Ring
5.8/109
More than anything, 30-year-old Rose longs to be reunited with Mickaël, her estranged 11-year-old son who has been placed with a foster family and bla...
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