The Battle of Algiers (La battaglia di Algeri)
Tribute to Algerian Cinema
Gillo Pontecorvo / Feature Narrative / Algeria, Italy / 1966 / 116 min / Black & White / DigiBeta
In Arabic, French / English subtitles
Interests: Drama, History, War, Crime
Qatar Premiere
Synopsis
This iconic war epic, widely recognised as one of the most influential political films of all time, transports viewers into a watershed period of the French colonisation of Algeria. The film is an intense, gritty reconstruction of revolutionary events that occurred in the Algerian capital between 1954 and 1957, when Algeria’s National Liberation Front (FLN) called for independence from France and began violent armed resistance in its battle to throw off the occupying power. The French responded by attempting to put down the insurrection using through any means available, including systematic repression of the Arab population of Algiers, and assassination or capture of the FLN’s membership. Gillo Pontecorvo’s finest work is praised for its balanced portrayal of events; it won the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion in 1966 and was nominated for three Academy Awards. In 2010, it was ranked sixth in ‘Empire’ magazine's list of ‘100 Best Films of World Cinema’.
About the Directors
Gillo Pontecorvo was born in 1919 in Pisa, Italy. He worked as a film director for more than a decade before ‘The Battle of Algiers’ was released in 1966. His other films include Kapò (1960) and ‘Burn!’ (1969), starring Marlon Brando and loosely based on the failed slave revolution in Guadeloupe.
Credits
- Director
- Gillo Pontecorvo
- Screenwriter
- Gillo Pontecorvo, Franco Solinas
- Producer
- Antonio Musu, Yacef Saadi
- Editor
- Mario Serandrei, Mario Morra
- Executive Producer
- Fred Baker
- Music
- Ennio Morricone, Gillo Pontecorvo
- Cinematographer
- Marcello Gatti
- Cast
- Jean Martin, Brahim Haggiag, Saadi Yacef, Samia Kerbash