Dorothée-Myriam Kellou investigates father's silence on Algeria war

Filmmaker Dorothée-Myriam Kellou explores the legacy of the Algerian War through conversations with her father, Malek Kellou, a Kabyle filmmaker. The project began as a family discussion and evolved into an archaeological inquiry into colonial silences and identity fragmentation. Malek recalls a childhood memory of seeing the bronze statue of Sergeant Blandan in Nancy, a reminder of violent conquest, while his mother told him to eat an orange and be quiet. For Dorothée-Myriam, born in France, Algeria was symbolized by a pomegranate her father brought, saying "It's the fruit of my country." His silence drove her to understand her identity. They discuss her documentary "À Mansourah, tu nous as séparés," about the French army's displacement of civilians in Petite Kabylie. Dorothée-Myriam absorbed her father's emotion when viewing news photos of Gaza or Spanish Republicans, leading her to document the occupation in Palestine, seeing echoes of Algerian history. She quotes Pasolini: "History is the passion of sons and daughters who want to understand their fathers and mothers." They examine a wedding photo of Malek and Catherine, Dorothée-Myriam's French mother, a marriage seen by the mayor as an attempt to reconcile both shores.