Born in Toulouse in 1978, Baya Kasmi began working with Michel Leclerc on a TV series about adolescence, Âge sensible (2002), before the screenplay for Le Nom des gens (2010), which is said to have been inspired by an autobiographical story, won a César award. The duo reformed to write La vie très privée de Monsieur Slim (2015) and La lutte des classes (2018).

As a director, she first established herself successfully in a short format with J'aurais pu être une pute, nominated for a César in 2012 for Best Short Film, which revealed Vimala Pons alongside Bruno Podalydès. The young actress went on to play the lead role in Je suis à vous tout de suite (2015), the director's first feature film.