Screen/Society--Feminism & Freedom Film Series--"Battle of Algiers"

Film Screening--"Battle of Algiers" (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1967, 125 min, Italy, in French & Other Languages w/ English subtitles, B/W, DVD) -- A powerful, almost documentary-like examination of the response to an occupying force, The Battle of Algiers hasn't aged a bit since its release in 1966. Director Gillo Pontecorvo presents a harrowing, depiction of the Algerian people's struggle to liberate themselves from France between 1954 and 1962. The film contains a number of stunning sequences with amateur and professional actors portraying characters based on real people (including Saadi Yacef, the one-time leader of the FLN in occupied Algiers). With its depiction of political torture and violence retaining every bit of the impact they had upon the film's original release, The Battle of Algiers was re-released theatrically in 2003 to great acclaim and reevaluation. "If any movie squeezes you into the shoes of grassroots combatants fighting a monstrous colonialist power for the right to their own neighborhoods, this is it." (Michael Atkinson, Village Voice) -- Part of the Feminism & Freedom Film Series.