Full Name
Dorothée Myriam Kellou
Job Title
Journalist, Author, Director
Speaker Bio
Dorothée-Myriam Kellou is a journalist, filmmaker, and writer whose work explores the intersections of investigative reporting, postcolonial memory, and intimate narratives shaped by political histories.
Working across journalism, film, and literature, she focuses on power, conflict, and the enduring effects of colonial and postcolonial violence, with particular attention to how these forces shape lived experiences and individual trajectories. She is notably known for her investigation into the Lafarge case, which revealed how the French cement company indirectly financed armed groups, including the Islamic State group, in Syria. Published in Le Monde in June 2016, this work raised major questions about corporate accountability in conflict zones and earned her the TRACE Prize for Investigative Reporting. As a woman journalist working in complex and often hostile environments, she brings a distinct approach combining rigor, fieldwork, and a sustained attention to silenced voices and underreported realities. A Fulbright scholar and graduate of Georgetown University, she was also awarded the Recanati-Kaplan Prize for her interdisciplinary contributions across journalism, film, and literary writing in and beyond the Arab world. Alongside her investigative work, she develops hybrid narrative forms across film and literature. She is the author of Nancy-Kabylie (Grasset, 2023; Prize of the Grand Mosque of Paris) and the director of À Mansourah, tu nous as séparés (Étoile de la Scam, 2020). She also contributes to public memory through artistic projects, including a counter-monument addressing the colonial statue of Jean-Pierre Hippolyte Blandan in Nancy, France. She is the founder and president of Rawiyat, a collective supporting women filmmakers from the Middle East and its diasporas.
Working across journalism, film, and literature, she focuses on power, conflict, and the enduring effects of colonial and postcolonial violence, with particular attention to how these forces shape lived experiences and individual trajectories. She is notably known for her investigation into the Lafarge case, which revealed how the French cement company indirectly financed armed groups, including the Islamic State group, in Syria. Published in Le Monde in June 2016, this work raised major questions about corporate accountability in conflict zones and earned her the TRACE Prize for Investigative Reporting. As a woman journalist working in complex and often hostile environments, she brings a distinct approach combining rigor, fieldwork, and a sustained attention to silenced voices and underreported realities. A Fulbright scholar and graduate of Georgetown University, she was also awarded the Recanati-Kaplan Prize for her interdisciplinary contributions across journalism, film, and literary writing in and beyond the Arab world. Alongside her investigative work, she develops hybrid narrative forms across film and literature. She is the author of Nancy-Kabylie (Grasset, 2023; Prize of the Grand Mosque of Paris) and the director of À Mansourah, tu nous as séparés (Étoile de la Scam, 2020). She also contributes to public memory through artistic projects, including a counter-monument addressing the colonial statue of Jean-Pierre Hippolyte Blandan in Nancy, France. She is the founder and president of Rawiyat, a collective supporting women filmmakers from the Middle East and its diasporas.
Speaking At
