Born in Oujda, Morocco, in 1944, Mostapha Derkaoui obtained a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1962 and studied at the Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique in Casablanca before attending the National Film and Theatre School in Łódź, Poland, in 1965, where he graduated from studies in directing. In 1973, he joined the Centre Cinématographique Marocain and went on to co-found Basma Production with his brother Abdelkrim Derkaoui and Larbi Belakkaf. In 1980, he founded Art 7. In 2000, he was appointed President of the Jury of the African Film Festival in Khouribga. For television, Mustapha Derkaoui directed several films and soap operas, including Deux moins un (1979), L'Agonie d'une fleur (1980) and Portraits de famille (1980).