Morocco-Educated Hairdresser’s Paris Dream Ended in a Tent
Zakaria El-Sem left Morocco with a degree and hopes of succeeding in France. Undocumented in Paris, he experienced extreme hardship and psychiatric hospitalization. Today, the hairdresser tells his story in a book.
With a degree in hand and his CV under his arm, Zakaria El-Sem heads for Paris, convinced he can build a future there. But the French capital has a very different life in store for him than the one he imagined. Years of hardship, life without a residence permit and nights in a tent mark his journey, which he recounts with Antoine Jobard in “Le coiffeur mal béni,” published by Lux Éditeur.
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In Paris, Zakaria discovers the difficulties faced by foreigners without papers. He recounts racism, police checks and administrative procedures that end with doors being shut in his face. His testimony describes a life marked by uncertainty, material hardship and the constant search for ways to survive.
Over the years, his mental health deteriorates. Voices he calls his “jnoun,” referring to the jinn of Moroccan tradition, take on an increasingly prominent place in his daily life. He experiences fear, gradually loses his bearings and eventually is admitted to a psychiatric hospital. In his account, he looks back on this period and on how he learned to live with these voices.
From hardship in Paris to a book published in Canada
His friends play an essential role in this journey. Some give him a place to stay and support him after his hospitalization. With Antoine Jobard, a French author and publisher, Zakaria gradually turns his experiences into a 256-page autobiographical account. The two men draw on the storytelling tradition of Jemaa el-Fna square in Marrakech to recount his ordeals, encounters and the solidarity that helped him.
The book published by Lux Éditeur was released in Europe on October 16, 2026, and is being published in North America this Wednesday, November 4. A launch event is being held the same day at La Livrerie bookstore in Montreal. Another presentation is scheduled for November 26 at L’Atelier bookstore in Paris’s 20th arrondissement.
Zakaria’s story is also the subject of a documentary project directed by Clément Jandard. The National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image awarded it 45,000 euros in development funding in June 2026. The film, also titled “Le Coiffeur mal béni,” is set to recount, among other things, his return to a Paris squat and his friends’ efforts to help him regain some control over his life after his hospitalization.
