Habiba Djahnine: Memory Bearer
By (Author) Sheila Petty
Edinburgh University Press
Edinburgh University Press
9th September 2025
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Individual film directors, film-makers
Film: styles and genres
791.430233092
Paperback
112
Width 138mm, Height 216mm
This volume focuses on contemporary Algerian feminist documentary filmmaker Habiba Djahnine as a 'memory-bearer' who gives voice to her compatriots to tell their own stories in her films. It provides the reader with exposure to key issues in contemporary Algerian culture and history (colonial, the Algerian War, the Black Decade of the 1990s), memory and women's and human rights.
The book gives a brief overview of Algerian cinema, Algerian women filmmakers and situates Djahnine's oeuvre and its significance within the North African context. It examines her work as a feminist, teacher and poet and how she transmits this locally and transnationally.
The book also explores how Djahnine uses documentary film form for personal and autobiographical explorations of Algerian history, culture, memory and trauma.
Professor Shelia Petty is Professor of Film Studies at the University of Regina.