Nacer Khemir was born in the city of Korba, Tunisia. Through film, painting and sculpture, as well as calligraphy, writing and narrating stories, Nacer Khemir has built bridges between shores, both North and South, East and West. His literary work includes over a dozen publications, and his body of work continues to grow. His art has been shown in numerous exhibitions at the Centre Georges Pompidou, at the Modern Art Museum of Paris and in many other European cities. In 1982 and 1988, Antoine Vitez invited him to the Chaillot National Theater in Paris for a storytelling show in which he told tales from The Arabian Nights. The show included Yannis Kokkos as its stage designer, offering a new story each night (with 25 hours in all). The show’s run lasted an entire month.

Filmography
Since he directed his film “The History of God’s Country” (“Histoire du Pays du Bon Dieu”), which was broadcast on France’s Channel 2 in 1975, he has directed many other feature films. In 1984, he won first prize at the Three Continents Film Festival in Nantes, France, for his film “Wanderers of the Desert” (“Les Baliseurs du Désert”). He also won the First Movie Award at the Festival of Carthage in Tunisia, the Golden Palm Award at the Valencia Film Festival, and the Critics’ Choice Award at the Mostra di Venezia. Later, his film “The Dove’s Lost Necklace” (“Le Collier Perdu de la Colombe”) won the Special Jury’s Prize at the Locarno Festival in Italy, First Prize at the Belfort Film Festival in France, and the Special Jury’s Prize at the Francophone Film Festival of St. Martin. In 1991, he directed “In Search of the Arabian Nights” (“À la Recherche des Mille et Une Nuits”) for France’s Channel 3. In 2005, he directed “Bab Aziz: The Prince who Contemplated His Soul” (“Bab Aziz, le prince qui contemplait son âme”). The film won the Golden Dagger at the Muscat Film Festival. In 2007, Nacer Khemir took part in a film, though this time in front of the camera, by Swiss director Bruno Moll, “Voyage à Tunis,” which tells the story of Paul Klee’s journey to Tunisia in 1914 and its influence on his painting. In 2008, he directed “The Alphabet of My Mother,” a short-subject film lasting 30 minutes, produced by the International Film Festival of JeonJu (South Korea). It was selected at the film festivals of Locarno and Melbourne. In 2010, he produced and directed “En Passant,” with André Miquel, in which he interviewed Professor André Miquel of the Collège de France about his work with the Arabic language. In 2011, Nacer Khemir wrote and directed “Scheherazade,” a work that shows his experience as a storyteller by discussing The Arabian Nights. In 2012-2013, he produced and directed “Looking for Muhyiddin,” a mixed genre film, both documentary and fiction, lasting three hours, for which he received the Barzaj Award of 2014 in Murcia, given by IBAFF/MIAS-Latina, in acknowledgment of his inspired creative dialogue with the legacy of Ibn Arabi. In 2013, he produced and directed “Yasmina and the 60 Names of Love” (“Yasmina et les 60 Noms de l’Amour”). In 2014, he produced and directed “Where to Begin?” (“Par où Commencer?”) a political utopia.