Karin Albou is a French-Algerian female director, writer, editor, producer and actress.

Early life

Karin Albou was born on March 12, 1968 in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

to Jewish Algerian immigrant parents. Her mother was only 16 when she was born. In 1999 she moved to Tunisia. A year later, she returned to Paris and started her career as a filmmaker and as a writer. As a child, Albou was always involved with dance and singing. After high school, Karin continued to study dance, but also studied literature and drama, eventually enrolling in a film school in Paris. She studied screenwriting but discovered she wanted to be a director while taking classes at

École Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle The École supérieure de réalisation audiovisuelle is a French private film school (Paris, Nice, Rennes) which specialises in the training of cinema, television, photography, sound engineering and digital art through the DESRA (''Diplôme d'étu ...

. After graduating, she released her first short film, ''Hush!.''

Career

Albou made her feature film debut in 2005 with '' Little Jerusalem,'' which debuted in the

International Critics' Week Critics' Week (), until 2008 called International Critics' Week ('), is a parallel section to the Cannes Film Festival organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. History Critics' week was created in 1962, after the French Syndicate of ...

section at the

2005 Cannes Film Festival The 58th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica served as jury president for the main competition. Cécile de France hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Belgian filmmakers D ...

. Despite being Albou's first feature film, she was disqualified from competing for the Camera d'Or, awarded to the best first film playing at the festival, because she had previously directed a made-for-TV movie. In 2008 Albou released her second feature film '' The Wedding Song'', a

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

drama set in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

in 1942 that was loosely inspired by letters Albou's paternal grandmother had sent to her husband during the war when he was sent to a labour camp. The film played multiple Jewish festivals but failed to garner mainstream attention, something Albou attributed to the many scenes of graphic nudity in the film. Albou's third feature film ''My Shortest Love Affair,'' which she co-starred in'','' was released in 2015.

Styles and themes

Karin's heritage explains some of the themes she chooses to cover. Raised in the Jewish faith, Karin's films explore the lasting trauma of the Holocaust – French colonialism, secret identity, exile, assimilation, and double diaspora. The director also explores and challenges the rules of religion and marriage and the themes of love, sex and family values. Her themes involve bringing intimate scenes of female spaces, tackling sexual dysfunction in marriage and uncovering how culture impacts the idea of romance. Karin keeps these themes consistent in her films and portrays them with her unique film style. Her style focuses on the representation of women. In The Wedding Song, the film style displays a lesbian, female, and Orientalist gaze.

Partial filmography

As director

Feature films

* '' Little Jerusalem'' (2005) * '' The Wedding Song'' (2008) * ''My Shortest Love Affair'' (2015)

Short films

* ''Hush!'' (Chut!) (1992) * ''Id El Kébir'' (1998) * ''The Innocent'' (''L’Innocent'') (2001 TV short) * ''Lady's Body'' (''Corps de dame'') (2009 TV short) * ''Yasmine and the revolution'' ( 2011)

Documentary films

* ''My Country Left Me'' (1994) * ''Tunisian Autumn'' (2014)

As actress

Feature films

* ''My Shortest Love Affair'' (dir. Karin Albou) * ''The Wedding Song'' (dir Karin Albou)

Short films

* ''Corps de dame''

Awards, nominations, and festival screenings

The Wedding Song was nominated for 6 awards at the 10th edition of the International Images Film Festival, Harare

Bibliography

References

*"École Supérieure De Réalisation Audiovisuelle." Wikipedia. June 30, 2018.

. *"Karin Albou." IMDb. 2018
Karin Albou
*"My Country Left Me." Jewish Film Festival. 2018
My Country Left Me
*"Karin Albou." Adequate Agence Artistique. 2013

. *"Karin Albou." Pyramide Films. 2010

*Zimmermann, Nayeli, Eric Van Grasdorff, and Patrick Gschwind. "Namibian Premiere of the Tunisian/French Film "The Wedding Song", Directed by Karin Albou, WED, 14 March 2012, 18:30h, FNCC." *

.

External links

*

2009: 9th Edition AwardsMy Shortest Love Affair / Ma Plus Courte Histoire d'AmourJerusalem Jewish Film Festival - 2015Jewish International Film Festival (Australia) - 2015San Francisco Jewish Film Festival - 2015My Country Left Me

* ttps://www.beirutfilmfestival.org/2009-9th-edition-awards/ 2009: 9th Edition Awards {{DEFAULTSORT:Albou, Karin French women film directors Living people 1968 births 21st-century French actresses French people of Algerian-Jewish descent 21st-century French Sephardi Jews Jewish French actresses Jewish women writers French LGBTQ film directors Algerian film directors Algerian women film directors French women screenwriters Algerian screenwriters 21st-century Algerian actresses

Early life

Career

Styles and themes

Partial filmography

As director

Feature films

Short films

Documentary films

As actress

Feature films

Short films

Awards, nominations, and festival screenings

Bibliography

See also

References

Further reading

External links