Nathalie Debroise

A specialist of French literature and cinema, Professor Debroise earned her PhD in comparative literature from the University of New York, Suny-Binghamton. For the past five years, she has chaired the department of Film Studies at The American University of Paris. As chair, she founded the Student Film Festival and ran a series of master classes with well-known directors, including James Gray, Amos Gitaï, Cédric Klapisch, Coline Serreau and Patrice Leconte.

Thanks to her knowledge of the film industry in France, Debroise has been able to organize various workshops and debates with leading film professionals, producers, distributors and directors of photography (among them Emmanuel Priou, Jean Labadie, Pierre William Glenn and Bruno Delbonnel). An accomplished professional photographer, Debroise has exhibited her work at several art galleries in Paris. She continues to research and explore new modes of writing, intertwining fragmented texts and photos. She is currently working on an essay exploring sexual genres based on a series of photographs of transvestites accompanied by interviews. Thanks to her cross-disciplinary background and practice, she approaches film from the perspective of several other humanistic arts (literature, music, painting, and photography). Her intimate knowledge of the French film industry allows her to incorporate a practical approach into her courses based on the participation of film professionals.