Biography
Kaoutar Boudarraja (17 February 1985 - 27 June 2025) was a Moroccan television presenter, actress, model, podcaster, and entrepreneur whose work reached audiences across the Arab world. Known for her principled approach to public life and her commitment to authentic cultural representation, she was the founder of Citizen K Production and the creator and host of the podcast La Parenthèse Enchantée.
Born in Casablanca, Morocco, Kaoutar was the eldest of three children in a middle-class family. She attended Lycée Prince Moulay Abdellah, where she obtained a Baccalaureate in Literature with a French specialization. She later enrolled in an International Business Administration program before leaving university to pursue emerging opportunities in media and cultural production.
Modeling and early public life
At 19, in 2004, Kaoutar began her professional career as a model, participating in runway shows and photoshoots for Moroccan and international fashion brands. Her distinctive presence in Morocco’s fashion scene became her first platform in public life and laid the groundwork for her transition into television and acting. From the outset, she approached modeling as a form of representation rather than simple visibility, conscious that her image carried broader implications for how Moroccan and North African women were perceived.
Television and broadcasting
Kaoutar’s television career began with her appearance on Star Academy Maghreb in 2007, which introduced her to a wide regional audience. In 2008, she joined Nessma TV as the presenter of Nass Nessma, a weekly magazine program that helped establish her as a recognizable media figure in the Maghreb.
Her work at Nessma TV expanded to include several other programs. In 2009 she hosted Mamnou’ Ala Al-Rijal (Forbidden to Men), a women’s issues talk show that addressed social and cultural topics rarely discussed openly on regional television. In 2010 she presented Non Solo Moda, a lifestyle and fashion program where she brought a culturally grounded perspective to an international format. In December 2011 she prepared and hosted Awled Nessma, a special reunion program bringing together the channel’s presenters and actors around shared professional milestones.
Between 2015 and 2017, she participated in Moudia Al Arab, a pan-Arab television presenter competition that further expanded her reach across the MENA region. In 2017 she returned to Morocco to host Jari Ya Jari on Medi1 TV, a socio-cultural program that focused on contemporary trends and social issues. Across these projects, she became known for steering conversations toward substance, maintaining editorial rigor, and refusing formats that relied on sensationalism.
Acting and screen work
In parallel with her television hosting, Kaoutar built an acting portfolio that included both film and television roles. Her feature-film debut was in Day of the Falcon (2011), followed by a central role as Zuleykha in the psychological horror film Curse of Mesopotamia (2015), recognized as a landmark production in Kurdish cinema. She later appeared in ATOMAN (2025), a Moroccan action drama in which she played Atika, contributing to the film’s exploration of crime, loyalty, and moral complexity.
Her television acting work included roles in several Moroccan series. She appeared in Al Madi La Yamout (Season 2), Souwlo Dmoui (2021), Salamat Abu Al Banat (Season 4, 2022), Ahlam Banat (2023), and Casa Street (2023), among others. These roles often engaged themes of family, identity, consequence, and social pressure, and reflected her preference for projects that treated characters and communities with dignity.
Podcasting and independent production
From 2018 onward, podcasting became the most personal and independent expression of Kaoutar’s voice. She launched Kif Nti in 2018, an interview-based video podcast exploring the daily realities of women and the cultural expectations shaping their lives. In 2019 she created P-Pulse, designed as a bridge between structured media formats and the more spontaneous tone of podcasting, combining commentary on social trends with short-form interviews.
In 2020 she launched La Parenthèse Enchantée, a video podcast built around long-form reflective episodes and intimate dialogues. Focused on cultural storytelling, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and transformation, it became her most recognized audio-visual platform. She retained full editorial control of the series, avoiding sensationalism and clickbait while maintaining a consistent pace and tone. The podcast ran until 2024 and is widely regarded as a central reference point in her body of work.
Entrepreneurship and Citizen K Production
As an entrepreneur, Kaoutar founded Citizen K Production to gain greater control over her projects and to work outside conventional gatekeeping structures in the media industry. The company served as a vehicle for self-funded and independently produced work that aligned with her editorial standards and cultural priorities. Through Citizen K Production, she maintained ownership over her content, from format development to final delivery.
Although she received offers for commercial endorsements, she accepted only a limited number of partnerships where she considered the values and messaging to be consistent with her own. These included collaborations with L’Oréal subsidiaries such as La Roche-Posay and Elsève in campaigns emphasizing confidence, self-respect, and responsible representation.
Advocacy, representation, and public stance
Throughout her career, Kaoutar used her platform to advocate for accurate representation of Arab and North African identities in media, with a particular focus on women’s experiences. She consistently rejected roles and narratives she felt relied on stereotypes or misrepresentation. Her editorial choices, interview responses, and project selection reflected a clear stance: culture without compromise, and visibility without distortion.
She regularly highlighted Moroccan and regional designers, insisted on speaking Darija in contexts where it was not the default, and used interviews to shift conversations from reductive narratives to more complex, grounded accounts of Moroccan and North African life. Her work in programs such as Forbidden to Men, her podcast series, and her selective press engagement all reflected a practice of using media to expand understanding rather than to generate controversy.
Cultural events and collaborations
Beyond traditional television and film work, Kaoutar participated in a range of cultural activities. She appeared at the Marrakech International Film Festival across multiple editions, representing both her individual work and a broader image of Moroccan women in international cinema spaces. She also took part in musical and advocacy projects, including the song “Baraka,” produced as part of a campaign against violence toward women, and “Bukra Shi Nhar,” a musical collaboration with established regional composers and producers. Across these efforts, she treated cultural appearances as extensions of her principles rather than standalone publicity opportunities.
Personal life
In her personal life, Kaoutar was a devoted mother and maintained a strong, ongoing connection to her immediate family. She chose to keep her child and private family life outside public view, maintaining a clear separation between her professional and personal spheres. Her family recalls her as present, engaged, and deliberate about protecting her child’s privacy despite the demands of public work.
Faith and modesty were central elements in how she understood her responsibilities, both on and off camera. They informed her decisions, including the projects she accepted, the boundaries she set in interviews, and the way she navigated single motherhood in a media environment that often expects public figures to share their private lives.
Illness, death, and legacy
In 2025, Kaoutar faced a serious illness, which she approached with the same discipline and composure that characterized her professional life. She remained focused on her family and on maintaining integrity in how her story was communicated. She died on 27 June 2025 in Casablanca.
Her legacy extends across several domains: modeling, television presenting, acting, podcasting, independent production, cultural advocacy, and carefully chosen collaborations. Across all of them, she demonstrated that it was possible to achieve regional and international visibility while preserving cultural authenticity, editorial discipline, and personal boundaries. The Kaoutar Boudarraja Legacy Archive and associated materials have been established to document this record, based on verified appearances, confirmed projects, and family-held documentation.
Quick Facts:
Full Name: Kaoutar Boudarraja
Date of Birth: 17 February 1985
Place of Birth: Casablanca, Morocco
Nationality: Moroccan
Occupation(s): Television Presenter, Actress, Model, Podcaster, Entrepreneur
Years Active: 2004–2025
Key television work: Nass Nessma; Mamnou’ Ala Al-Rijal, Non Solo Moda, Awled Nessma, Jari Ya Jari, Moudia Al Arab
Key acting work (film): Day of the Falcon, Curse of Mesopotamia, ATOMAN
Key acting work (television): Al Madi La Yamout, Souwlo Dmoui, Salamat Abu Al Banat (Season 4), Ahlam Banat, Casa Street
Podcast projects: Kif Nti, P-Pulse, La Parenthèse Enchantée