Amira-Géhanne Khalfallah is a Filmmaker, playwright, novelist & translator, whose work explores the intersections of postcolonialism, the nuclear era, and historical narratives.
Amira has taught creative writing in several countries, including Morocco, France, and Turkey. At Washington University, she designed a first-year seminar titled "Re-imagining Northern Africa: From Unveiled Women to Veiled Men" for the African and African American Studies department.
For twenty years Amira was a journalist and a columnist in Africa, where she covered North Africa, and the Middle East. With a degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Constantine, she integrates both science and investigative work in her writing.
Amira adapted and directed MISS, a short film based on her screenplay, about the first French nuclear bomb that detonated in the Sahara Desert in 1960. This film has been showcased at major festivals worldwide and has won four awards, including the 'Special Jury Mention' at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2020 and was awarded “Best Short Film” at the Mediterranean Film Festival in Rome a year later.
Amira is also a playwright, with seven of her plays produced in Europe and Africa. Her most recent work, Hélène's Dreams—a play she self-translated from French, was staged as a reading at Washington University in the fall of 2025.
Her debut novel, Le naufrage de la lune was published in 2018.
Link to the film Miss: https://vimeo.com/857700807
Published Works:
Novel. The Last Voyage of Ibn Battûta. (Excerpts of the novel). Michigan Quarterly Review. Spring issue African Writers. 2024.
Novel. Le naufrage de La Lune. Louis XIV in Algeria. Ed. Barzakh. Algiers, 2018.
Theater. Shams et les poissons du désert,
in Incertains regards. Aix-Marseille Université. Presses Universitaires de Provence. (+ CD of the audiophonic peace), France, 2017.
in La première chose que je peux vous dire… N°5. La Marelle Ed. Marseille. France, 2015.
Theater. Les draps.
La Marelle Ed. Marseille. France, 2015.
English version translated by Michael Overstreet. The Mercurian, Spring 2020.
Short story.
Avant de fermer la fenêtre… Casablanca, poème urbain. Collective work. Ed. Le Fennec. Institut Français. Morocco, 2013.
Essays:
Je n’ai pas fini de lire Kateb Yacine. Apulée. Zulma Edition. Paris, 2022.
Nous sommes tous les enfants de Motown. Fassl. N°3. Algiers, 2021.
Parce qu’ils ne connaissent pas la mer. Apulée. Zulma Edition. Paris, 2020.
Malek Haddad le poète blessé. Collective work. Editions Sédia. Algiers, 2019.
