Mounia Meddour is a writer, director and producer. She was born in Moscow, of a Russian mother but she is also of Algerian descent. She was raised in Algeria but she relocated to France with her family at the age of 18 as a result of death threats they received during Mouthe Algerian Civil War. Meddour studied journalism at the University of Algiers before she joined the summer directing program at La Fémis. She has directed several documentaries and her first short film Edwige (2011) was selected into numerous international festivals and received a number of awards. Papicha is Meddour’s first feature film. She began writing and developing the film seven years ago with the objective to show the battle that Algerian women waged during Algeria’s civil war. She hopes that the film will open doors for other women to feel free to tell their own stories. Meddour credits her father, who was a filmmaker, for much of her passion and courage, as well as her determination to tell stories. She believes that men and women today can build a strong and powerful universal world together.