Part of Infinite Beauty: Muslim and MENASA Identity Onscreen and French War, Algerian Revolution

Dir. Gillo Pontecorvo. 1966, 120 mins. Italy/Algeria. 35mm. With Brahim Haggiag, Jean Martin, Saadi Yacef.

Pontecorvo’s revolutionary classic remains a benchmark in cinematic realism as well as a case study in representing political insurgency. A history of Algeria’s three-year fight for independence from its French colonizers, The Battle of Algiers chronicles the escalating violence between French military forces and the Algerian guerrilla movement. With its documentary-style immediacy and its vivid depiction of the struggle between oppression and resistance, this is one of the most influential and important of all political films.