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An Algerian Filmmaker
and the Ethics of Documentary Film:
A Seminar with Director Jean-Pierre Lledo
Thursday 27 November, 2pm – 4pm
Trinity College, Winstanley Lecture Theatre
In this exceptional seminar,
convened by the Cambridge African Film Festival in conjunction
with the Cambridge Film Trust, Trinity College and the Screen
Media Research Seminar, the Algerian director Jean-Pierre Lledo
will speak about the ethics of documentary filmmaking. Focusing
on issues arising in his films regarding repressed aspects of
Algerian history, Lledo will examine questions of honesty, manipulation
and the power relations between the filmmaker and their subjects.
Illustrated through clips from his body of work, Lledo will explore
the ways in which such ethical questions are complicated by the
filmmaker's personal investment in his themes, and by the films'
opposition to official discourses.
About Jean-Pierre Lledo:
In the wave of Islamist terrorism in Algeria during the early
1990s,
Jean-Pierre Lledo, like many other Algerian artists and intellectuals,
was forced to leave his homeland for exile in France. There he
became
aware of the powerful attachment felt by other exiles from Algeria
to
their homeland, whatever their origin. He began to undertake
documentary projects, such as An Algerian Dream (2003) and Algerias,
My
Phantoms (2004) that explored repressed memories of an Algeria
where
Jews, Christians and Muslims coexisted and shared a profound,
collective attachment to their land. Of mixed Berber, Jewish and
Spanish heritage himself, Lledo gave a voice to those who played
an
important role in the fight for independence, as well as those
who had
been excluded from official histories and forced out of Algeria
after
its independence from France in 1962.
In his most recent film, Algeria: Unspoken Stories (2008),
four Algerians of Muslim origin take us back to the years of the
violent war of independence. In searching for the truth of their
personal histories, this film reveals the entanglement of hatred and
fraternity in the hidden memories of their relationships with Jewish
and Christian neighbours. Such stories are unspoken because to speak
them is to risk censorship or worse. These films are therefore acts of
resistance. Through the exploration of memory and history, Lledo's
"exile documentaries" strike at the heart of the founding myths of the
new Algeria.
Film Screenings:
Jean-Pierre Lledo's exile trilogy will be screened at the Cambridge
Arts Picturehouse as part of the Cambridge African Film Festival
(www.cambridgeafricanfilmfestival.co.uk) Tickets can be purchased
online in advance at www.picturehouses.co.uk
The director will take part in Q&A discussions after each screening.
An Algerian Dream
Friday 28 November, 4.30pm
Algerias, My Phantoms
Friday 28 November, 6.45pm
Algeria, Untold Stories
Saturday 29 November, 2.00pm
Special thanks to Trinity College, the Screen Media Seminar, Isabelle
McNeill, David Trotter, Paula Beegan and Jean Khalfa for all of their
support for this seminar.
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