Career
He shared the award for Best Actor for his role in the film Days of Glory at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Versatile and determined to not be typecast in "Beur" roles, Roschdy Zem developed his range, playing a General of Napoléon in Monsieur North. (2003), a Jewish father in Virginia, vis et deviens (Live and Become, 2005), and a transvestite in Change moi ma vie (Change My Life, 2001) alongside Fanny Ardant. He also appeared in roles highlighting issues in mainstream French society as well as in films promoting aspects of French and North African history such as Indigènes (Days of Glory, 2006) and Camping à la ferme (2005), based on a script from Azouz Begag.
In 2011, he directed the film Omar Killed Maine, which was selected as the Moroccan entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards.