[32], The FLN losses are impossible to determine accurately. "The Battle of Algiers," a great film by the young Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo, exists at this level of bitter reality. [38], On 26 August following intelligence gained by Colonel Godard's operatives, the 3e RPC raided a house in the Impasse Saint-Vincent where Yacef's new bomb-maker and deputy were believed to be hiding. Académique Perrin. Yacef Saâdi proceeded to establish an organisation based within the Casbah. The following day, a bomb exploded in the cemetery where Froger was to be buried; enraged European civilians responded by carrying out random revenge attacks (ratonnade), killing four Muslims and injuring 50. [11] Abane Ramdane believed that such a campaign would be the "Algerian Dien Bien Phu" that would force the French out of Algeria. Filmed in a semi-documentary format, this film deals with the battle of Algiers (1956-57) part of the broader fight for Algerian independence (1954-62) from French colonial rule. Gillo Pontecorvo's "The Battle of Algiers," filmed in 1965, released in late 1967, is the crucial film about this new kind of warfare. Gradually, the offences and retaliations build towards full-scale war. The use of torture, forced disappearances and illegal executions by the French later caused controversy in France. The film Battle of Algiers informs how the fight for national culture amounts to a fight for national liberation. On 22 October 1956, a Moroccan DC-3 plane ferrying the foreign affairs personnel of the FLN from Rabat to Tunis for a conference with President Bourguiba and the Sultan of Morocco was re-routed to Algiers. The film begins with the minor humiliations of colonial rule, when a group of guffawing young Frenchmen trip up petty criminal Ammar Ali for a laugh. During the summer of 1956, secret negotiations between the French and Algerian separatists took place in Belgrade and Rome. [31], On the evening of 8 October the 1e REP surrounded Ali La Pointe's hideout at 5 Rue de s Abderames. Re-creating the carnage of fifties Algeria -- bombings, assassinations, police torture -- The Battle of Algiers is as relevant today as it was in 1965. And the years to come would sadly reveal that, in spite of the screening, the Bush administration didn't learn a damn thing from The Battle of Algiers-- or history. Yacef threw a grenade at the French troops but they were eager to take him alive and he and Zohra Drif eventually surrendered. The suspects would then be handed over to the Détachement Operationnel de Protection (DOP) for interrogation after which they would either be released or passed to a centre d'hebergement for further interrogation. Smithsonian Books. [30], On 23 September a courier for Yacef was arrested by Godard's men. However Yacef set about rebuilding his organisation within Algiers. [8], In late January the FLN called an 8 day general strike across Algeria commencing on Monday 28 January. In April one of Yacef's collaborators, Djamila Bouhired was arrested by a French patrol, Yacef following her and disguised as a woman attempted to shoot her, but only succeeded in wounding her and Yacef fled back into the Casbah. In addition to the publicised FLN deaths there were many who simply disappeared. Worth a look. from Cult Films and Shameless PRO on October 16, 2020. These arrests generally took place at night so that any names revealed under interrogation could be picked up before the curfew lifted in the morning. [18] High-value suspects and suspects with information relating to matters outside a para regiment's territorial sector would be passed over to Colonel Aussaresses' unit, where "torture was used as a matter of course". Maurice Audin a Communist university professor was arrested by the paras on 11 June on suspicion of harboring and aiding FLN operatives, Henri Alleg the Communist editor of Alger républicain was arrested by the Paras at Audin's apartment the following day and was told by Audin that he had been tortured, Audin was never seen again and it is believed that he either died while being interrogated or was summarily executed. [4], On the night of 10 August 1956, helped by members of Robert Martel's Union française nord-africaine, Achiary planted a bomb at Thèbes Road in the Casbah targeted at the FLN responsible for the June shootings, the explosion killed 73 Muslims. [15], While females had not previously been searched in Algiers; following the Coq Hardi explosion one of the waiters identified the bomber as a woman. The use of torture, forced disappearances and illegal executions by the French later caused controversy in France. Recreating the Algerian struggle for independence from French occupation this powerful, thought provoking film is one of the most influential political movies of all time, depicting the brutal acts of both sides. [15] Alleg was subjected to the gegene and waterboarding, following his release he wrote his book La Question published in 1958 which detailed his final meeting with Audin and his own experience of torture. The explosions killed 4 and wounded 50 and a Muslim was killed by Pied-Noirs in retaliation. Often presented as an account of the Algerian struggle for freedom, Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo ’ s 1966 film The Battle of Algiers (La battaglia di Algeri) is in fact more precisely defined as an analysis of the strengths and limitations of counterinsurgency measures during the Algerian War (1954 – 1962) for independence from France and, as such, remains very relevant to the early twenty-first-century “ global … Watch trailer. la Découverte. After suffering several casualties trying to capture the two alive, both men were eventually killed. "The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Algeria 1955-1957". On the evening of 30 September 1956, a trio of female FLN militants recruited by Yacef Saâdi, Djamila Bouhired, Zohra Drif and Samia Lakhdari, carried out the first series of bomb attacks on three civilian targets in European Algiers. Freund (2) argues that although the French were tactful, they failed to quell the insurgency by the National Liberation Front and the Algiers as a whole. ISBN, Pellissier, Pierre (2002). In December, General Raoul Salan was promoted to commander in chief of the army of Algeria. "A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962". [11], Colonel Trinquier operated an intelligence gathering network throughout the city called the Dispositif de Protection Urbaine (DPU) which divided Algiers into sectors, sub-sectors, blocks and buildings each individually numbered. (Like all the crowd scenes in the film, this one has an electrifying shiver that feels both exciting and dangerous.) Larbi Ben M'Hidi and Yacef Saâdi were ordered to prepare for an offensive.[9]. The Pied-noirs began to organise themselves into a paramilitary group under André Achiary, a former officer of the SDECE and under-prefect of Constantinois at the time of Sétif massacre. On the evening of 30 September 1956, a trio of female FLN militants recruited by Yacef Saâdi, Djamila Bouhired, Zohra Drif and Samia Lakhdari, carried out the first series of bomb attacks on three civilian targets in European Algiers. Set during the Algerian War, the film depicts the final battle for control over the capital of Algeria, Algiers. Many of these responsables would be assassinated by the FLN. Films and Shameless PRO on October 16, 2020 torture, forced disappearances and executions. Units led by Colonel Pierre Jeanpierre sealed off Rue Caton and raided Yacef 's hideout at.... 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