1. BELLWORK: 1/17
Why would a filmmaker choose to recreate a historical event? Do you think it is to increase public knowledge of the event, or is it for pure entertainment? Explain!
THINKER: Does a filmmaker have a responsibility to stay truthful to a story? What if the event remains politically sensitive?

2. Review: Algerian War
With a partner, you will complete the worksheet on the Algerian War.
Make sure to use your readings/notes  summarize/condense the info to the main points!
I will collect these tomorrow (do NOT complete the “Evian Accords” section….)

3. French Soldier killing fleeing Algerian while journalists were present
Battle of Algiers
The Battle of Algiers (September 30, 1956) began when three women, simultaneously placed bombs at three sites
To increase international and domestic French attention to their struggle, the FLN decided to bring the conflict to the cities
French Army was instructed to use whatever methods necessary to restore order (targeted civilians, terror, torture for info, etc.)
Effects:
The FLN succeeded in showing its ability to strike at the heart of French Algeria
The publicity given to the brutal methods created doubt in France about its role in Algeria. What was originally "pacification" or a "public order operation" had turned into a colonial war accompanied by torture.
French Soldier killing fleeing Algerian while journalists were present

4. Film Synopsis
One of the most influential political films in history, The Battle of Algiers, by Gillo Pontecorvo, vividly re-creates a key year in the tumultuous Algerian struggle for independence from the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, women plant bombs in cafés, and French soldiers resort to torture to break the will of the insurgents. Shot on the streets of Algiers in documentary style, the film is a case study in modern warfare, with its terrorist attacks and the brutal techniques used to combat them. Pontecorvo’s tour de force has astonishing relevance today.

5. Film Info
Film concentrates on and is about the organization of a guerrilla movement and the methods used by the colonial power to annihilate it.
Focuses on when the guerrilla fighters regrouped and expanded into the casbah, only to face a systematic attempt by French paratroopers to wipe them out.
The story begins and ends from the perspective of Ali la Pointe, a petty criminal who is politically radicalized while in prison and then recruited by FLN commander El-hadi Jafar (Saadi Yacef, dramatizing a character based on himself)
Lieutenant-Colonel Mathieu, the paratroop commander, is the principal French character
After the Algerian War, Yacef helped produce Gillo Pontecorvo's film The Battle of Algiers (1966). Yacef played a character modeled on his own experiences in the battle.
Saadi Yacef - one of the leaders of the FLN, also their military chief in Algiers; currently a Senator in Algeria (The character El-hadi Jafar is based on his life & involvement as portrayed in his book, Souvenirs de la Bataille d'Alger)
Ali La Pointe – one of the FLN's most trusted and loyal lieutenants in Algiers; becomes FLN commander

6. The character of Colonel Philippe Mathieu, is widely believed to be a composite of Marcel Bigeard, Jacques Massu and other prominent French officers
Marcel Bigeard – Lieutenant General of French troops in Algerian War (launched counter-terror campaign)

7. Barricades Week

8. Aerial view showing the juncture of the casbah (on the  right) and the French quarters (on the left). 

10. The Casbah, where the film was shot
The Casbah, where the film was shot. Filmed in black and white and experimented with various techniques to give the film the look of newsreel and documentary film

11. Awards It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival
Nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film.
In 2010, the movie was ranked sixth in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema” and 120th in the top 500 films of all time.