It is 1989... Amine Bouhafa is three years old and begins playing the piano. At the age of 12, he graduates from the National Conservatory of Music in Tunis and embarks on a remarkably early career as a pianist and arranger. At 15, he composes his first score for a short film. Cinema then becomes a passion that will never leave him.

Amine takes on a series of projects for television and feature films. After receiving a scholarship, he moves to Paris. The opportunity is too good to pass up: alongside his engineering studies, he studies harmony and counterpoint at the Conservatoire de Paris. Balancing two cultures that he fully embraces, Amine Bouhafa develops a highly personal style and challenges the clichés of Orientalism. The quality of his writing and the originality of his style lead producer Sylvie Pialat and Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako to choose him to compose the score for Timbuktu. The film receives seven César Awards, including Best Original Music. That same year, he is awarded the Grand Prix France Musique – Sacem 2015 and is commissioned to compose a concert piece. “Tolérances & Interdits”, a tribute to the victims of the attacks, is performed in 2016 by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

With his career now firmly underway, Amine Bouhafa chooses projects that stimulate his artistic curiosity. In 2017, he composes the score for Beauty and the Dogs (La Belle Et La Meute) by Kaouther Ben Hania, presented in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, where it receives the Prix de la Meilleure Création Sonore. He goes on to compose the scores for a number of acclaimed films, including Looking For Oum Kulthum by Shirin Neshat, presented in the official selection of the Venice Film Festival, You Will Die at Twenty (Tu mourras à vingt ans) by Amjad Abu Alala, winner of the Lion of the Future Award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, Gagarine by Fanny Liatard & Jérémy Trouilh, selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival and awarded for its music, and The Summit of the Gods (Le sommet des dieux) by Patrick Imbert, selected for the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

More recently, he has composed the scores for The Man Who Sold His Skin (L’homme qui a vendu sa peau), Four Daughters (Les Filles d’Olfa) and The Voice of Hind Rajab (La voix de Hind Rajab) by Kaouther Ben Hania, all three nominated for Academy Awards. Four Daughters, winner of the Golden Eye for Best Documentary at Cannes in 2023 and also a César winner, further confirms Amine Bouhafa’s position as one of the most sought-after composers in international cinema.

This recognition has not kept Amine Bouhafa from exploring other “playing fields”, including television series, whether fiction (Kingdoms of Fire, The World of Tomorrow, Tapie), documentary series such as Histoires d'une Nation for France 2, or animation, including all three seasons of The Adventures of Paddington for Studio Canal and Blue Zoo. His score for Tapie is part of the series’ BAFTA Award for Best International Series, while Paddington is a recipient of two Emmy Awards.

An inspired composer, passionate craftsman and multi-instrumentalist, Amine Bouhafa approaches every project with the same level of commitment, from independent films to more mainstream productions, putting his writing at the service of the image without ever compromising his singularity. This vision has led him in recent years to collaborate with acclaimed directors such as Karim Aïnouz, Patricia Mazuy, Katell Quillévéré, Tristan Séguéla, Philippe Faucon and Hafsia Herzi.

He composed the score for The Little Last One (La petite dernière), whose lead actress received the Best Actress Award at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. His score, nominated for the 2026 César Award for Best Original Music, is both intimate and stripped back. It delicately accompanies the heroine’s search for identity through a sensitive musical language, remaining as close as possible to the character of Fatima.

He has also recently completed the score for the animated film Carmen, l’oiseau rebelle by Sébastien Laudenbach, presented in the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. Among his recent and upcoming projects are Milo by Nicole Garcia, Les Yeux Verts by Fanny Liatard & Jérémy Trouilh, Un bon avocat by Tristan Séguéla, selected for the 2026 Venice Film Festival, as well as Dumas, the upcoming blockbuster by Ladj Ly, currently in production.