El Hedi ben Salem

El Hedi ben Salem was a bi Moroccan actor who gained recognition for his work with celebrated German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Salem’s personal life was marked by a controversial marriage at a young age, followed by his decision to leave his family and his five children for Europe in the early 1970s.

In Paris, Salem met Fassbinder in an encounter at a Parisian sauna and the two men struck up a romantic relationship. Fassbinder was impressed with Salem’s acting skills and invited him to be part of his creative circle, which led to Salem’s involvement in several of Fassbinder’s films.

Salem’s most famous role was in Fassbinder’s film Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), a powerful drama that explores issues of discrimination and xenophobia in post-World War II Germany. In the film, Salem plays a Moroccan immigrant who falls in love with an older German woman and faces prejudice and hostility from the society around him. The role brought Salem international recognition.

Salem continued to appear in Fassbinder’s films throughout the mid-1970s, playing supporting roles and contributing his talents to the director’s provocative and controversial vision. His final onscreen appearance was in Fassbinder’s 1975 romantic drama Fox and His Friends.

During his stay in France, Salem was taken into custody and imprisoned in Nîmes in 1977, where unfortunately he took his own life by hanging. The news of Salem’s death was concealed from Fassbinder for many years, and it wasn’t until shortly before he died in 1982 that he discovered his former partner’s passing. Fassbinder paid tribute to Salem by dedicating his final film, Querelle (1982), to him.