Exclusive interview With Heza Botto: Actor, storyteller, citizen An actor with a thousand faces and the art of commitment

Heza Botto embodies the new generation of actors for whom diversity is not a keyword, but a reality. With his rare elegance, Heza Botto is one of the rising voices of contemporary acting. With a rare elegance, Heza Botto has established himself as one of the rising voices of contemporary acting. Between his multiple cultural heritages and his desire to tell universal stories, he has forged a singular career path in which each role becomes an exploration.

Meet the man who reveals the unexpected in every role.

Paris-based French-Cameroonian actor Heza Botto plays cosmopolitan, committed roles, as reflected in his filmography (notably Les Passagers de la Nuit (2022), Reine Mère (2024). He has also launched a more personal short film, "Are We Cool with This", financed via Ulule, and shot in September 2025 in Paris . This project reflects his move into writing/directing and his commitment to telling untold stories about the human condition in an urban context.
Jombelek: With "Are We Cool with This", you explore Afro-centric questioning while being European through a local Parisian experience. How does this concern us all, whatever our geography?
Heza B.: The days when everyone was born, lived and died within a hundred-kilometer radius are largely over. On every continent, the countryside is being depopulated by cities. This is the first form of migration and redefinition of identity for the people concerned. Secondly, human beings are increasingly mobile internationally, whether from the North to the South or vice versa. As for those who don't have the need or opportunity to travel, their smartphone connects them to the rest of the planet. So, wherever we are, our mental worlds are influenced by what's happening on the other side of the globe. The local and the global are intertwined for many of our contemporaries. I hope that this story is relevant to most of them.
Jombelek: How do your worlds interact in the way you write and film this story?
Heza B.: I'm French-Cameroonian, but all told, I've lived more time in Europe than on any other continent. I think that's reflected in the way I observe the world and write about it. But having spent my foundational childhood in Central Africa gives me a different point of view from that of a "native" European. What's more, I'm nourished by yet other geographical spaces, where I've lived and which I'll always carry with me. This pushes me to constantly seek nuance, the counterpoint, a zone where points of view vary and express themselves without crushing each other. "Agree to disagree", as the Anglo-Saxons say.
Jombelek: Europe often sees itself as a cultural crossroads. In your opinion, what does it lose by standardizing its narratives, and what could it gain by allowing itself more narrative contradictions?
Heza B.: Europe is indeed a cultural crossroads. Sometimes willingly, sometimes forcibly. I'm not sure I agree with the term "standardization of narratives". I think Europe is above all the people who live there. Whatever their origin. Whether they're employees, artists, students, natives, exiles or expats, each person brings their own story to the table and shares it with others. It's up to the receivers of these narratives to do with them what they will: reproduce them faithfully, transform them, forget them. As long as people are on the move (against all odds and border restrictions), narratives - in the sense of transcriptions of personal experiences - will be on the move. For standardization to occur, stagnation would have to exist. Fortunately, we're not there yet.

Jombelek: As an actor from the diaspora, how do you transform this plural identity - often taken for granted - into a narrative force, without turning it into an artificial justification?
Heza B.: By not asking myself that question too much. Living well in my very individual pair of plural sneakers is the best shield against artifice. And the best way to resist the injunctions that are pressing from one side or the other.
Jombelek: What do you hope to get across - or change - in the collective imagination with this film? What future or key to understanding are you proposing?
Heza B.: I'd like to raise doubts. Changing opinions or mentalities is a huge project, too big for my humble self. I'd be delighted if viewers came away from the theater with a new mental window open. It's not so much about imposing what I think is right. Rather, the idea that a point of view different from mine or yours, a different experience of the World, deserves our attention and understanding. Even if it doesn't result in a change of convictions in the end.
Jombelek: The use of Ulule and participatory financing implies a global community. What kind of dialogue do you hope to create with contributors, particularly beyond France?
Heza B.: I'm trying to celebrate the diversity of contributors. The support we've received so far shows that the subject resonates beyond the Afrodescendant and French-speaking community. I'm very touched by this and it encourages me in my approach. As for the Afro diaspora specifically, it is not linguistically uniform. In addition to local languages, descendants from Central Africa speak French, those from Northern Africa speak English or Portuguese, and those from the Horn of Africa and the Sahelian strip speak Arabic, among other languages. Talking together means using the lingua franca of our time, namely English. I'm doing my best to do this by subtitling the speeches in the crowdfunding campaign.
By the way, Rhokia and Nelson speak English to each other. She's a "second-generation Frenchwoman", as the saying goes. He is an English-speaking African who has made his home in Europe. It's tempting to assume a natural affinity between them. Yet there's nothing to suggest that they come from the same cultural zone. Like anyone who encounters someone from elsewhere, they must find a way to bring their experiences into dialogue. L'Anglais places them on the neutral ground of all today's global exchanges. I hope this will help viewers to make the story their own, wherever they may be in the world.
Jombelek: Do you think this story, even if set in Paris, might resonate differently from an African perspective? What does it hope to evoke for viewers on that continent?
Heza B.: The script is set in a diasporic context, not a purely African one. But as I said earlier, digital tools have shrunk distances in our minds. So I think a viewer in Dakar or Kinshasa will be able to connect to the situation. I believe there is a link to be made - and handled with care - between the fluidity of diasporic identities and the hybridization resulting from colonization, although the two things are very different. However, it's possible that the film's punchline will upset one part of the audience more than the other, depending on whether they live north or south of the Mediterranean. I'll leave it at that.

Jombelek: Our digital lives both bring us closer together and enclose us at the same time. What does the promiscuity of social networks have to say about our times?
Heza B.: Ever since cell phones were equipped with the Internet, I've always been careful to leave this object in its rightful place: at the bottom of my pocket or bag as far as possible. I prefer direct observation of the world and exchanges with all kinds of people. Of course, I'm delighted with the little pixelated window I get to see snapshots of the globe I wouldn't otherwise have access to. But I'm very wary of algorithms and confirmation bias. It kills curiosity, openness to others and the possibility of glimpsing new facets of oneself. And what's even more damaging is that this bias translates into a growing polarization of viewpoints in real life. On a planet we have no choice but to share in a logic of interdependence, this is a great pity.
Jombelek: In your approach, how do you distinguish between inclusion and superficiality ("soup" narrative)? Do you keep the singularity intact in a more global narrative?
Heza B.: I think that's a question for the viewer rather than the author. I hope the sentence will be lenient.
Jombelek: When you move from Yaoundé to Paris, do you ever feel that your accent or gestures become a comic character in themselves before you even open your mouth?
Heza B. : The plasticity of the mind is a fascinating thing. I'm always amused by the way my accent or gestures mutate according to place and people, without my realizing it right away. If there's comedy in it, it's not entirely chosen, but it's far from being suffered. These are little complexities that I inhabit in complete tranquillity. We're back to the idea of being at ease in our plural sneakers.
Jombelek: In societies where intimacy is overexposed, what kind of story could still surprise or move people without going overboard?
Heza B.: What I like about storytelling is that there are as many ways of telling stories as there are sensibilities. Shamelessly revealing stories have the advantage of giving us an honest look at the character's or author's thinking. This gives us a chance to better understand what is outside our own intimate experience.

For example, the exposure of post-meetoo intimacies has moved the world, and me with it. I'm not opposed to exposing intimacy as long as it serves a purpose. Censoring or censoring oneself doesn't help mutual understanding. Bottomless sensationalism and gratuitous gestures, on the other hand, are pointless.
Jombelek: What would happen if tomorrow artificial intelligences wrote the majority of screenplays? What areas of humanity do you think would remain inimitable?
Heza B.: Our senses allow us to experience the world and vibrate in our flesh. Science still has a lot of work to do before it can unravel this mystery and allow AI to appropriate it. If the majority of screenplays were written by AI, there would be a greater impoverishment and standardization of creation as things stand. This is my intuition (my incantation?) as a non-expert on the subject. At the same time, I can see that AI can make the work of designers easier. In fact, I feel like I have to choose between the blue pill and the red pill in the film "Matrix": I hesitate between the comfort of the Matrix and the courageous freedom of the Real World.
Jombelek: How do you see your trajectory in the next five years?

Heza B.: I want to continue acting. In audiovisual fiction or live performance, in as many territories as possible. I'm also continuing to develop fiction projects that may see the light of day in the meantime. At the moment, I don't think it would be possible without the vital contribution of my acting activity.

Jombelek: You've acted in mostly European stories. Does this project at last allow you to inscribe your writing in a shared, perhaps more African, narrative? Do you plan to shoot or co-produce in Africa?

Heza B.: Taking part in the development of cultural industries on the continent where I was born, while remaining true to my values, would be a great achievement. However, I don't have a precise plan. I take each step as it comes. One thing's for sure: I still have a lot to learn about how films are made, both in Europe and in Africa. It's going to be a long road. But it's more important than the destination, they say.

Jombelek: What would a global festival of invisible narratives look like, and what kinds of stories would you most like to hear?
Heza B. : Just off the top of my head, I see giant screens set up in every corner of the globe, with simultaneous projections all over the world. I'd like to see stories that shake up our certainties. Stories that create empathy with what frightens us or what we prefer to ignore. I'm deliberately being vague when it comes to themes. There are so many worth exploring...
Jombelek: If the diaspora were to invent a new founding myth, what would its hero and symbolic enemy be?
Heza B.: I don't really believe in the notion of myth. In fact, I'm wary of it. I see in it a kind of Golden Calf worship, for the part of your readership with vague notions of the Bible. I much prefer reality to myth. The reality of all of us trying to find meaning in our presence on this blue ball that revolves around its Sun. The reality of a balance between individual aspirations and the need to play collectively. The irrefutable reality of a world where several diasporas cohabit and intermingle. I don't see this as a risk of standardization. Rather, I see the creative transformation that characterizes all living things.
Jombelek: What happens to a story when it moves from one language to another? Is it a loss, an enrichment, or a creative mutation?
Heza B.: I'm not a conservative. Life is change, movement. Stories are rarely unchanging. So let's be philosophical and positive: let's opt for creative mutation.
Jombelek: What forward-looking message would you like to send to audiences - whether in Paris, Douala, Berlin or elsewhere - through "Are We Cool with This"? What image, what memory would you like them to take away with them?
Heza B.: Once again, I'm not looking to convince. I'm more interested in opening up discussion. In this case, on the subjects of black identity, masculinity and freedom from dogma. If, after the screening, some people say "I didn't see it that way, but yes, why not? "I've more than achieved my objective. If you'd like to take part in Heza's developing project, please don't hesitate to contribute via the link below:
https://fr.ulule.com/are-we-cool-with-this/

Interview by Johanne-Eli Ernest Ngo Mbelek, aka Jombelek
Paris 14 September 2025
Contact: Jombelek@gmail.com