The Battle of Algiers

This incendiary re-creation of the turbulent Algerian struggle for independence is one of the most influential political films of all time.

Reconstructing the events that occurred in the capital city of French Algeria during the 1954-1957 Algerian War of Independence. We follow the efforts of the National Liberation Front (FLN) as they galvanize and organise the oppressed Arab citizens to fight against the encroaching French army and the pied-noirs (ethnic Europeans born in Algeria). As the stakes get higher, atrocities are committed on either side with the French paratroopers using torture, intimidation and murder to suppress the growing uprising and the FLN carrying out a series of coordinated bombing attacks aimed at European citizens. The battle for emancipation culminating in the streets of the populous city. 

Director Gillo Pontecorvo’s thrilling, groundbreaking docudrama adopted the cinéma verité aesthetics of the 60s whose freewheeling camera gave an impression of capturing history in the making. While the influences of the Italian neo-realism movement inform the film’s use of real locations and non-actors. Winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and cited in Sight & Sounds poll of the greatest films of all time, the films undeniable legacy still reverberates. 

Its meticulous detailing of guerrilla warfare tactics became a vital training manual for the Black Panthers, the IRA and it continues to be a rallying cry for resistance and liberation.