Sandra Rousseau, Assistant Professor of French

Sandra Rousseau, Assistant Professor of French
Sandra Rousseau, Assistant Professor of French

Professor Sandra Rousseau collaborated on a documentary project with Twin Cities-based filmmaker Mohamed Yabdri. The documentary focuses on the unusual friendship between Yabdri, an Algerian-born actor and director, and the pied-noir painter Freddy Muñoz, who sadly passed away spring 2020. Yabdri and Muñoz are two individuals that historical narratives suggest would be at odds, and yet they formed a strong friendship. Professor Rousseau and her students worked with the documentary team to create contextual materials for the project that are needed for an American audience to engage with the project. Together, they determined what background is needed on the Algeria war of liberation in order for audiences understand more fully the context of these interactions. In examining historical discourses that are at times in tension with historical actors and their descendants, students explored how to reconcile such tensions, the weight of historical trauma, and the potential of art to connect people across differences.