French cinema invites itself to Algeria
It was through France and its filmmakers that Algeria discovered the seventh art. This state of affairs was ensured by the colonial establishment, which kept a tight rein on local production initiatives in order to maintain its stranglehold on the cinema. From then on, Algeria was seen as an exotic land used to entertain the metropolis on screen, or to illustrate elsewhere. In 1921, the country served as the backdrop for L'Atlantide by Jacques Feyder, a Belgian-French director born in Brussels, who filmed for eight months in the Algerian Sahara, a first at the time. The result is one of the masterpieces of French silent cinema, now a hundred years old.
Jean Renoir's Le Bled (1929), a less glorious but nonetheless noteworthy film, was also shot in Algeria. Commissioned by the colonial establishment as part of the centenary commemorations of French Algeria, it praises colonization and celebrates the greatness of France, while still being directed by one of the great French filmmakers of the 20th century. We can already see his style, and the beginnings of the poetic realism that was to characterize his great films such as La Bête humaine (1936). Finally - in its introduction - it's a quasi-documentary on life in Algiers in the early 1930s, a precious eyewitness account. Last but not least, Julien Duvivier's Pépé le Moko (1937), partly shot in Algiers, is another notable pre-independence film. A gangster film strongly inspired by American models, in which Algiers appears as a city of hoodlums and bandits. An image tainted by colonialism that was rejected outright by the first Algerian filmmakers.
It's worth noting, however, that not all French people were in solidarity with the regime of domination. In 1954, when the war of independence broke out, some French people joined the Algerian cause. For example, Cécile Decugis, filmmaker and editor for François Truffaut and Éric Rohmer, shot the short film Les Réfugiés (1957). The film shows the displacement of people by the war to Tunisia, and denounces French exactions. A supporter of the Algerian cause, she was arrested in 1960 and spent two years in French prison. For his part, anti-colonialist filmmaker and producer René Vautier made several scathing short films and documentaries, including L'Algérie en flammes (1958) and Une nation, l'Algérie (1955). A film that has now disappeared, but for which he was prosecuted for undermining state security.
Algerian cinema past and present
In 1954, a team of young filmmakers was formed in the Algerian maquis. These students were the first generation of national filmmakers, filming both the horrors and the victories of the ALN. Among them, Djamel Chanderli and Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina are undoubtedly the most important. To support the Algerian cause in the eyes of international public opinion, they made three films in barely a year. Djazaïrouna (1961), Yasmina (1961) and La Voix du peuple (1961), a triplet depicting the exactions of the French regime, the suffering of the Algerian people and their desire for freedom. These were works that would undoubtedly contribute to the end of the war the following year, thanks to the force of their message and images.
Despite the end of hostilities, it was the conflict that remained at the heart of Algerian cinema in the 1960s. The first Algerian drama, Une si jeune paix (Jacques Charby, 1965), is one of the strongest examples. In this film, the filmmaker's son plays himself, having been tortured and mutilated by OAS French paratroopers. The following year, Gillo Pontecorvo's Italian-Algerian co-production La Bataille d'Alger (The Battle of Algiers) made international headlines when it won the Golden Lion at Venice, much to the dismay of the French present there. The same happened in 1975 with Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina's Chronique des années de braise, a drama recounting the fifteen years preceding the outbreak of the Algerian war. A grandiose historical fresco, awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, despite death threats against the Algerian filmmaker. Three major films that launched the history of an Algerian cinema full of potential, at a time when it had just been crowned - via director Costa-Gavras' film Z - with the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1970.
In the decades that followed, national cinema diversified, while remaining deeply marked by its past and present. Young filmmakers and documentarians took over from the first generation of directors, and regularly won awards at international festivals. Brahim Tsaki's Les Enfants du vent (1981) won the Critics' Prize at the Venice Film Festival, while filmmaker Djamila Sahraoui made a name for herself with her documentaries La Moitié du ciel d'Allah (1995) and her dramas Barakat! (2006) and Yema (2012). La Place (2011), the first Algerian musical directed by Dahmane Ouzid, won several international awards, including the René Vautier prize in Montpellier, presented by Costa-Gavras. A fine achievement, given the heritage that these two directors represent for Algerian cinema.
Today, Algerian cinema is under threat. The dissolution of the body responsible for financing art, technology and the film industry is, according to some, a veritable death sentence for the seventh art in Algeria, at a time when the number of cinemas is shrinking by the day. In a country that had over 400 screens in 1962, there are now just twenty or so. International film shoots, a regular occurrence in the last century (Antonioni, Bertolucci and Patton director Franklin J. Schaffner all set up shop in Algeria), can now be counted on the fingers of one hand. And yet, filmmakers like Mounia Meddour(Papicha, 2019) and Sofia Djama (Les Bienheureux, 2017) continue to create against all odds. Because Algerian cinema is the fruit of a history of struggles, and today it remains a strong means of expression with a unique DNA.
