Thursday 5 November, 8.15pm at Picturehouse Cinema, Cambridge
ICI London supports
Italian Cineclub Cambridge #2
A series of screenings organised by the Cambridge University Italian Society and the Italian Section of the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics at the University of Cambridge
The Battle of Algiers (La battaglia di Algeri) a film by Gillo Pontecorvo (1966)
Starring Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash, Ugo Paletti, Fusia El Kader, Mohamed Ben Kassene.
Pontecorvo’s masterpiece, widely considered one of the greatest films of all time, also part of the list of the best Italian films ever compiled by the Italian Ministry of Culture, is based on action undertaken by rebels during the Algerian War (1954–1962) against the French government in North Africa, the most prominent being the eponymous Battle of Algiers, the capital of Algeria. It was shot on location in a Roberto Rossellini-inspired newsreel style: in black and white with documentary-type editing to add to its sense of historical authenticity, with mostly non-professional actors who had lived through the real battle. The film’s score was composed by Pontecorvo and Ennio Morricone. It is often associated with Italian neorealist cinema. The film concentrates mainly on revolutionary fighter Ali La Pointe during the years between 1954 and 1957, when guerrilla fighters of the FLN went into Algiers. Their actions were met by French paratroopers attempting to regain territory. The highly dramatic film is about the organization of a guerrilla movement and the illegal methods, such as torture, used by the French to stop it. Despite the country’s hardships, Algeria succeeded in gaining independence from the French, which Pontecorvo addresses in the film’s epilogue.
The film was met with international acclaim. It won the Golden Lion at the 27th Venice Film Festival among other awards and nominations. It also was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Introduction by Luca Peretti (University of Cambridge)
Buy your tickets HERE
This screening is part of the conference “The Battle of Algiers at 60”, on the poccasion of the 60th anniversary of the film release. Find the programme HERE
Luca Peretti is Assistant Professor of Modern and Contemporary Italian Literature and Culture, and Key Staff in Film and Screen Studies, at the University of Cambridge. College lecturer in Italian and Director of Studies in Italian at St John’s College, Cambridge, and Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Modern Languages and Culture at the University of Warwick.