Hiba Baddou (b. March 1, 1997, Rabat, Morocco) is a filmmaker, photographer, painter, performer, and art director. Deeply influenced by her homeland, she developed an early passion for storytelling through diverse visual languages. Her practice explores themes of identity, ritual, and language, blending retro-futuristic aesthetics with Moroccan cultural influences.
She graduated in filmmaking from the International Film School (EICAR) in Paris in 2018, where she received the EICAR Award for Best Direction and Best Cinematography for her graduation film. She later pursued a master’s in Art Direction at Penninghen (2019–2023), refining her distinctive visual approach and earning a special mention chaired by Jean Charles de Castelbajac.
Her work as a painter has been exhibited in major institutions such as Bab El Kebir in Rabat (under the auspices of the Moroccan Ministry of Culture and the Institut Français) and the Villa des Arts in Rabat and Casablanca. As a filmmaker and photographer, she has exhibited at the Photography Museum with the National Moroccan Museum Foundation. She gained international recognition with Paraboles, a multidisciplinary project exploring the impact of imagery on migration. Her short film “The Sacralization of Images” was selected for several international film festivals, won first prize at the AVIFF Art Film Festival in 2024, and received the prestigious Art for Change Prize at the Saatchi Gallery in London. Hiba has also presented her work at the International Dakar Biennale 2024, at the Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL) in Marrakech, and will be featured at Paris Photo at the Grand Palais in November 2025.
Hiba continues to expand the boundaries of contemporary art, weaving photography, painting, film, and performance into a practice that questions the role of imagery and tradition in the modern world.