Dominique Cabrera

Born in Algeria, Dominique Cabrera moved to France in 1962. After studying modern literature, she entered IDHEC in 1977. She worked as an editor on the regional stations of France 3, while attending acting classes.

In 1981, she directs her first short film, J'ai droit à la parole, showing how the tenants of a transit housing estate in the Paris suburbs organize themselves. Since then, her many documentaries have made her a household name, including of an Ordinary Suburb, A Post Office in La Courneuve and Staying Over There, in which she explores the links between France and Algeria, through the return of those who stayed "over there".

In 1995, she directs her first feature film, Tomorrow and Demain et encore demain, an autobiographical diary of a filmmaker plagued by doubts and anxieties. In 1996, she directs Claude Brasseur in The Other Shore, about the uprooting of the Algerian « pieds-noirs » community. In 1999, she shoots Nadia and the Hippos, starring Ariane Ascaride and Thierry Frémont. Presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, the film is set against the backdrop of the 1995 winter strikes in France. In 2001, Dominique Cabrera approaches Patrick Bruel for her new film, The Milk of Human Kindness, starring Marilyne Canto. In 2004, she directs A Wonderful Spell, her fifth feature film. Six years later, after numerous roles as an actress, she returns to her favorite genre, documentary, with Ranger les photos in 2009 and Grandir in 2013. In 2017, she directs the drama Corniche Kennedy (adapted from the novel by Maylis de Kerangal), followed in 2019 by Ceux qui nous restent. In 2022, she made a documentary, Hi Mister Comolli, about her last conversations with Jean-Louis Comolli.