
Alexandre Trudeau
Documentary Filmmaker & Journalist
Alexandre Trudeau is a renowned documentary filmmaker, freelance journalist and speaker. His documentaries are works with a strong social conscience: the U.S.- led invasion into Iraq in 'Embedded in Baghdad', the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 'The Fence', and the Canadian federal government's support of the use of security certificates in 'Secure Freedom'. In his highly anecdotal talks, Trudeau shares his often-controversial views on the political, social and economic forces behind the headlines.
Alexandre "Sacha" Trudeau is a renowned documentary filmmaker, freelance journalist and speaker. After graduating with a philosophy degree from McGill University, he began making documentaries with a strong social conscience. His first documentary on the Liberian civil war caught the attention of the CBC and he was enlisted as a videographer on the show Culture Shock. Following this, he was employed by CBC's The National to produce a piece on the youth in Yugoslavia and their hope for democracy.
In 2003 Trudeau personally slipped into Baghdad shortly before U.S.- led invasion. For six weeks during the bombing campaign he lived with an Iraqi family to tell the story from their perspective. This culminated in the 60-minute documentary film for CTV program 'Embedded in Baghdad'.
From there he continued to produce films about controversial topics, including The Fence (2004) a documentary that shed light on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where he spent a season with families on opposing sides of the Israeli security barrier in the West Bank. In Secure Freedom (2006) Trudeau investigated the Canadian federal government's steadfast support of the use of security certificates on the grounds of national security. His latest documentary, Refuge (2008) details the crisis in Darfur.
Trudeau's reports and essays have appeared in major Canadian magazines and newspapers. He is a member of the executive committee of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation for excellence in social sciences and humanities research and innovation and President and Chief Producer at Jujufilms in Montreal.
In his highly anecdotal talks Alexandre Trudeau shares his often-controversial views on the political, social and economic forces behind the headlines. Back from Beijing where he was part of CBC's coverage of the Olympics, he is currently writing a book about modern Chinese society.
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Alexandre Trudeau: Witness
Alexandre Trudeau has been exploring the world for decades. He has been to war zones and wild frontiers. He has witnessed a wide variety of experiences: stories of human triumph and tragedy.
For Trudeau, globalization means that information and goods now reach every corner of this planet however remote and untouched they may seem. For the first time ever, humanity is more than just an abstract concept. We all share in some common experiences of world events. And understanding world events matters more than ever.
Trudeau's tales are the stories of ordinary yet inspiring people from a wide range of places on the planet. They paint the picture of a world in deep transformation. A world challenged by our voracious appetite for resources and scarred by our competing struggles for power. A world where Western power is in slow decline, Asian power in meteoric rise and where a large portion of the planet's inhabitants still face poverty and huge material challenges.
But the picture is not completely bleak. The men and women Trudeau has us ponder offer a renewed hope for human dignity in the face of crisis, for human capacity in the face of tremendous obstacles, for understanding emerging from ignorance and deception. We little people are far from helpless. The transformation of the world is very much our doing. We individuals can make it worse. Or better.
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Alexandre's talk was everything we had hoped. He told us what he thought and pulled no punches. This was what we were looking for. He was gracious with the questions from the audience following his talk. He took time to respectfully answer questions one-on-one with our students at evening's end. It was a pleasure to work with him and I would recommend him as a speaker for future events.
Bio
Diplômé en philosophie de l’université McGill en 1997, il est devenu réalisateur de films documentaires, journaliste à la pige et orateur public. Depuis 1998, il produit et réalise des oeuvres documentaires pour la télévision à partir de la maison de production montréalaiseles FILMS JUJU dont il est président et réalisateur en chef. Ses documentaires sont principalement d’ordre social, et ses sujets, souvent controversés.
Au cours de son travail documentaire, il s’est penché sur des situations telles que la guerre civile libérienne – Liberia. La guerre secrète, le quotidien des peuples autochtones canadiens (le chant du tambour, la langue mohawk, la vie de famille inuit pour la sérieCulture Choc dans laquelle participent six autres journalistes bilingues), la jeunesse et la démocratie en Yougoslavie – Belgrade : Un an plus tard, la classe moyenne à Bagdad durant la guerre en Irak- Au cœur de la guerre en Irak, la barrière de sécurité entre Israël et les Territoires palestiniens – Maudite Terre Sainte, et la détention sans accusations de Canadiens soupçonnés d’activités terroristes- Prisonniers de la liberté. Plus récemment, en 2008, Alexandre a réalisé le film Refuge, portant sur la situation de crise au Darfour, présenté entre autres à Radio-Canada dans le cadre de la série Zone DOC. Alexandre a aussi réalisé des reportages radio pour la CBC et Radio-Canada sur l’héritage troublé du maintien de la paix canadien – La troisième chance. Les écrits d’Alexandre ont parut dans la presse écrite canadienne.
Il est membre du conseil d’administration de la Fondation Pierre Elliott Trudeau et a été président du conseil de Jeunesse Canada Monde. De retour de Pékin où il participa à la couverture des Jeux Olympiques, il écrit présentement un livre sur la société chinoise moderne.
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