Editing Alexandre Trudeau

{{Short description|Canadian filmmaker and journalist (born 1973)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{BLP sources|date=November 2015}}

{{Infobox person
| image       = 
| image_size  = 
| caption     = 
| birth_name  = Alexandre Emmanuel Trudeau
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1973|12|25}}
| birth_place = [[Ottawa Hospital]], [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], Canada
| death_date  = 
| death_place = 
| occupation  = [[Filmmaker]], [[journalist]], [[author]]
| spouse      = Zoë Bedos
| children    = 3
| parents     = [[Pierre Trudeau]] {{small|(father)}}<br>[[Margaret Trudeau]] {{small|(mother)}}
| other_names  = Sacha
| family       = [[Trudeau family|Trudeau]]
| alma mater   = [[McGill University]]
}}
'''Alexandre Emmanuel''' "'''Sacha'''" '''Trudeau''' (born December 25, 1973) is a [[Canadians|Canadian]] filmmaker, journalist and author of ''Barbarian Lost''.<ref name=NationalistPost2012-10-22/> He is the second son of Canada's former [[prime minister of Canada|prime minister]], [[Pierre Trudeau]], and [[Margaret Trudeau]], and the younger brother of Canada's former prime minister, [[Justin Trudeau]].

==Early life and education==
Alexandre Trudeau is the younger one of the two Christmas babies of Pierre Trudeau and Margaret Trudeau, exactly two years younger than Justin Trudeau. The family was attending the 1973 Christmas [[midnight mass]] at Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church when Margaret Trudeau went into labour and was rushed to [[The Ottawa Hospital]].<ref>{{cite news| title=Son Born To Trudeaus|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CLMiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=erMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3332%2C2528467| newspaper=[[The Beaver County Times]]| agency=[[United Press International|UPI]]| date=December 28, 1973| access-date=November 6, 2015}}</ref> His mother struggled with severe [[postpartum depression]] after his birth, and was later diagnosed with [[bipolar disorder]].<ref name="Hampson">{{cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/margaret-trudeau-is-solo-sane-60---and-irrepressible-as-ever/article4394810/?page=all |author=Hampson, Sarah|date=May 8, 2009|title=Margaret Trudeau is solo, sane, 60 - and irrepressible as ever. |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto |access-date=April 3, 2016}}</ref> He was given the nickname "Sacha" (the French spelling of the Russian diminutive for Alexander) in recognition of his father's love of Russian literature and culture; the name also is linked to former ambassador of the [[USSR]] to Canada and Trudeau family friend [[Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev|Alexander Yakovlev]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Plamondon |first=Bob |author-link=Bob Plamondon |date=2013 |title=The Truth about Trudeau |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3oY17o5sSwC&dq=Yakovlev+Trudeau&pg=PA3-IA2 |location=Ottawa |publisher=Great River Media |chapter=Chapter 3. A friend to communists. Viva Cuba - Viva Castro |isbn=978-1-4566-1671-7}}</ref> Alexandre Trudeau's younger brother, [[Michel Trudeau|Michel]], was born in 1975.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | title=A third son for Trudeau| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=QBJtjoHflPwC&dat=19751002&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|newspaper=[[The Ottawa Citizen]]| date=October 2, 1975| access-date=October 23, 2015}}</ref>  All three of Pierre and Margaret Trudeau's children became media sensations from birth.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

When talking about her sons each having distinctly different personalities, in an interview in 1977, Margaret Trudeau said, "Justin, 6, is a prince &ndash; a very good little boy. Sacha, born Christmas Day, 1973, is a bit of a revolutionary, very determined and strong willed. Miche (Michel) is a happy, well-adjusted child, who combined the best traits of both brothers."<ref>{{cite news| last=Larkin| first=Kathy| newspaper=[[The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)|The Blade]]| location=Toledo, Ohio| agency=KNS| title=Margaret Trudeau Says She Likes New Freedom| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Hg9PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YwIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6993%2C2118256| date=November 30, 1977| access-date=November 12, 2015}}</ref>

His parents announced they would separate in 1977. His mother, unbeknownst to the public, then lived in an attic suite within the Prime Minister's official residence at [[24 Sussex Drive]] in Ottawa for the next three years, so as to make the adjustment easier on the children. After the divorce was finalized on April 2, 1984, he and his brothers attended the civil ceremony in which Margaret Trudeau remarried to Ottawa real estate developer Fried Kemper on April 18, 1984. A half-brother, Kyle Kemper (born 1984), and a half-sister, Alicia Kemper (born 1988), soon followed.<ref name="Hampson"/> Pierre and Margaret Trudeau tried as much as possible to protect their children from the public eye, and following Pierre Trudeau's retirement as Prime Minister in 1984, he raised them in relative privacy in [[Montreal]].{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} Alexandre Trudeau gained another half-sister, Sarah Coyne (born 1991), from his father's relationship with Canadian politician [[Deborah Coyne]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2010/11/24/pierre_trudeaus_daughter_sarah_lives_under_the_radar.html| title=Pierre Trudeau's daughter, Sarah, lives under the radar| date=November 24, 2010| access-date=November 10, 2015| last=Popplewell| first=Brett| newspaper=[[Toronto Star]]}}</ref>

Like his father and brothers, Alexandre Trudeau studied at [[Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Petit-déjeuner témoignage {{!}} Brébeuf|url=https://www.brebeuf.qc.ca/association-des-anciens/activites-de-lacjb/petit-dejeuner-temoignage/|access-date=2021-04-20|website=www.brebeuf.qc.ca}}</ref> He graduated with a B.A. in philosophy and a Masters in architecture from [[McGill University]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=alexandre.trudeau {{!}} Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation|url=https://www.trudeaufoundation.ca/member/alexandre-trudeau|access-date=2021-04-20|website=www.trudeaufoundation.ca}}</ref> While attending McGill, he joined the [[Canadian Forces]] as a Reserve Entry Scheme Officer with [[The Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal)|Royal Canadian Hussars]] reserve regiment in 1996.<ref name=NationalistPost2012-10-22/> He trained at [[CFB Gagetown]], [[New Brunswick]] and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, but released voluntarily before completing his training as an [[armoured warfare|armoured]] officer.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} Following graduation, he traveled to [[West Africa]] to produce his first documentary: ''Liberia, the Secret War'' (1998).<ref>{{cite news| first=Scott| last=Taylor| date=May 1, 2000| title=Young Trudeau among the Serbs| newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen| url=http://balkanpeace.org/index.php?index=article&articleid=11456}}</ref> In the same year in which the documentary was made, his brother Michel died in an avalanche that pushed him into [[British Columbia]]'s [[Kokanee Lake]], where he drowned.<ref name="nyt16Nov1998">{{cite news| last=DePalma| first=Anthony| title=Pierre Trudeau's Youngest Son Believed Killed in Avalanche| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/16/world/pierre-trudeau-s-youngest-son-believed-killed-in-avalanche.html| access-date=November 19, 2010| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| date=April 3, 2016| url-access=subscription}}</ref>

When [[Death and state funeral of Pierre Trudeau|Pierre Trudeau died in 2000]], both his surviving sons returned to the public eye. Although Alexandre Trudeau was visibly more reserved and quieter than his brother, his heightened public profile brought new attention<ref>[http://evalu8.org/staticpage?page=review&siteid=4016 Profile], evalu8.org; accessed November 21, 2015.<br>{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050408145428/http://evalu8.org/staticpage?page=review&siteid=4016 |date=April 8, 2005 }}</ref> to his work as a journalist. After Pierre Trudeau's death, Alexandre continued to live in his father's Art Deco home ([[Cormier House]]) in Montreal.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/01/20/trudeau-practices-law-and-low-key-living/| title=Trudeau Practices Law And Low-key Living| first=Janet| last=Cawley| date=January 20, 1986| newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]| access-date=5 April 2016}}</ref>

==Work==
{{BLP sources section|date=November 2015}}
In the years following his father's death, Trudeau produced documentaries for Canadian television. In 2003, he was one of the highest-profile Canadian journalists covering the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], producing a documentary film for the [[CTV Television Network|CTV]] program [[W5 (TV series)|W5]], ''[[Embedded In Baghdad]]''. His 2004 film, ''The Fence'', shot in Afula, Israel and Jenin of the Palestinian territories draws up a portrait of families on either side of the Israeli-built security barrier around the West bank.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bce.ca/news-and-media/releases/show/alexandre-trudeaus-the-fence-airs-saturday-september-18-on-ctv| title=Alexandre Trudeau's The Fence airs Saturday, September 18th on CTV| date=September 3, 2004| publisher=BCE| access-date=5 April 2016| archive-date=18 April 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418210341/http://www.bce.ca/news-and-media/releases/show/alexandre-trudeaus-the-fence-airs-saturday-september-18-on-ctv| url-status=dead}}</ref>

In June 2005, Trudeau focused attention on what he said were the implications for [[civil liberties]] in the Canadian government's use of [[security certificate]]s to detain indefinitely, without trial, suspected terrorists based on secret evidence. Trudeau offered to be a [[surety]] for [[Hassan Almrei]], a [[Syria]]n refugee held in a Canadian jail for four years without any charges being laid.<ref>[https://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1120168212380 Hassan Almrei profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927001715/http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar%2FLayout%2FArticle_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1120168212380 |date=September 27, 2011}}, ''Toronto Star''; accessed November 21, 2015.</ref> His appearance in court in support of Almrei resulted in front-page coverage in the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' and ''[[National Post]]'' and major media attention being given to the security certificate issue for the first time. Trudeau's efforts were chronicled in his documentary ''Secure Freedom''. Almrei was ordered released under house arrest by a Federal Court judge on January 2, 2009. On December 14, 2009, Almrei was released.

Known for his staunchly anti-imperialist views, Trudeau attracted controversy in August 2006 for an article he penned praising [[Fidel Castro]]'s Cuba.<ref>[https://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1155420635589 Profile], ''Toronto Star''; accessed November 21, 2015. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215114329/http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar%2FLayout%2FArticle_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1155420635589 |date=December 15, 2007 }}</ref> Trudeau's documentary ''Refuge'', produced in 2008, tells the story of the humanitarian crisis facing Africa's [[Darfur]] region and eastern [[Chad]].<ref>{{cite news  |url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/montreal-gazette/20080823/282394100240738 |title=Teen apprentice brings balance to Sacha Trudeau's film |first=Jeff |last=Heinrich |date=August 23, 2008 |newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette]] |access-date=April 5, 2016 }}</ref> In 2012, he produced the film ''The New Great Game'', for the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] about the maritime [[geopolitics]] of the Middle-East and Western Indian Ocean.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2291351676| title=The New Great Game| date=October 12, 2012| work=CBC News| access-date=July 30, 2020}}</ref>

In 2016, Trudeau published his first book with Harper Collins, ''Barbarian Lost, Travels in the New China'', a number one Canadian best-seller. The book is a travel mémoire with an undercurrent of philosophical and historical reflection. It paints a personal and nuanced portrait of an ancient country in the throes of massive change. About the book, Trudeau is quoted as saying: "My whole professional career has had a focus on geopolitics, and in this age, you cannot understand the world without understanding the massive role that China has grown to play."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Proudfoot |first1=Shannon |title=Being Sacha Trudeau |url=https://www.macleans.ca/politics/being-sacha-trudeau/ |access-date=April 8, 2019 |work=[[Maclean's]] |date=September 8, 2019}}</ref>

In 2018, Trudeau presented his first scripted work, the short film ''Wiisgaapte'' (Bitter Smoke).<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-05-06|title=Alexandre Trudeau réalise sa première fiction|url=https://www.lapresse.ca/cinema/2019-05-06/alexandre-trudeau-realise-sa-premiere-fiction|access-date=2021-04-20|website=La Presse|language=fr |last1=Bourdeau |first1=Réjean }}</ref> A product of a collaboration with Dr Shirley Williams, an [[Ojibwe language]] specialist, the film’s dialogue is entirely in old [[Ojibwe]] dialect and tells the story of the windigo legend of [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian]] lore.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-05-08|title=Alexandre Trudeau talks about reconciliation, identity and his new movie|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2019/05/08/alexandre-trudeau-talks-about-reconciliation-identity-and-his-new-movie.html|access-date=2021-04-20|website=thestar.com|language=en}}</ref>

==Public life==
Currently, Trudeau is President and Chief Producer at Same Adventure Productions. He and wife Zoë Bedos are the parents of a son, Pierre-Emmanuel, and two daughters, Gala Simone and Ariane Lea.<ref name=Cbc2007-01-04/><ref name=CounterCa2007-01-05/> He is a founding member of the [[Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation]] for excellence in social sciences and humanities research and innovation.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.fondationtrudeau.ca/en/community/Directors/all/all| title=Community| website=Fondation Trudeau| language=en| access-date=2019-12-11}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name=NationalistPost2012-10-22>
{{cite news
| url         =http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-other-brother-sacha-the-apolitical-one-joins-justin-trudeaus-campaign-team
| title       =The other brother: Sacha, the 'apolitical' one, joins Justin Trudeau's campaign team
| newspaper   =[[National Post]]
| location    =Toronto
| date        =October 22, 2012
| first       =Christoper
| last        =Curtis
}}</ref>

<!-- <ref name=Globeandmail2008-09-29>
{{cite news
| url         =https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/she-brings-her-own-star-quality-to-the-trudeau-legacy/article4190487/
| title       =She brings her own star quality to the Trudeau legacy
| access-date  =2013-08-23
| first       =Sarah
| last        =Hampson
| date        =September 29, 2008
| work        =The Globe and Mail}}
</ref> -->
<ref name=CounterCa2007-01-05>
{{cite news
| url         = http://www.counterweights.ca/2007/01/canada_canada__canada_canada___
| title       = Where is Canada going .. does Pierre Trudeau's new grandson have anything to do with it?
| publisher   = Counterweights Canada
| access-date  = October 25, 2015
| date        = January 5, 2007
| first       = Dominic
| last        = Berry
}}
</ref>
<ref name=Cbc2007-01-04>
{{cite news
| url         = http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/a-new-pierre-trudeau-is-born-1.636243
| title       = A new Pierre Trudeau is born
| work        = [[CBC News]]
| date        = January 4, 2007
}}
</ref>
}}

==External links==
* [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/alexandre-faces-the-world/article18429436/ Alexandre (Sacha Trudeau) faces the world] - [[The Globe and Mail]] profile written by Sarah Hampson.
* [http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1634 Alexandre Trudeau Interview] on [[The Hour (Canadian TV series)|The Hour]] with [[George Stroumboulopoulos]]
*{{IMDb name | id=0874051| name=Alexandre Trudeau}}
* {{cite news| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/le-nouveau-trudeau-little-pet-weighs-in-at-7-pounds-4-ounces/article1077684/| title=Le nouveau Trudeau: Little PET weighs in at 7 pounds 4 ounces| newspaper=The Globe and Mail| first=Jane| last=Taber}}

{{Pierre Trudeau}}
{{Justin Trudeau}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trudeau, Alexandre}}
[[Category:1973 births]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Dutch descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of English descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of French descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Malaysian descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Indonesian descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Journalists from Ontario]]
[[Category:Children of prime ministers of Canada]]
[[Category:Film directors from Ottawa]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:McGill University alumni]]
[[Category:Journalists from Montreal]]
[[Category:Trudeau family|Alexandre]]
[[Category:Canadian documentary film directors]]
[[Category:Film directors from Montreal]]
[[Category:Canadian documentary film producers]]