More than fifty years after the release of the film “The Battle of Algiers” in theaters in June 1966, director Salim Aggar found, after a search which lasted more than a year and a half, the actors, extras and technicians who worked on the film directed by Gillo Pentecorvo and produced by Yacef Saadi. In this documentary full of anecdotes and stories about the filming of the film, the director found the actress who played the role of Hassiba Ben Bouali, the young 17-year-old actress who played Bouhamidi's bride but especially certain figures important parts of the film who were barely 10 years old at the time of filming and who no one will recognize today. Beyond the important historical aspect of the film, the documentary focused mainly on the social, cinematographic and cultural aspect of the film and its impact on a generation which had just regained independence.
Cheikh Djemaï looks back on the genesis of Gillo Pontecorvo’s feature film, The Battle of Algiers (1965). Through archive images, extracts from the film and interviews with personalities, the filmmaker retraces the journey of a major work - from the events of the Algiers Casbah (1956-1957) to the presentation of the Lion of 'Or causing the anger of the French delegation in Venice - which left its mark as much in the history of cinema as in that of Algeria.
Fouzia Menaceri (فوزية مناصري), born Fouzia El Kader in 1940 and died September 10, 2019, is an Algerian actress. She was 25 years old, in 1966, when she was spotted by the film crew of Gillo Pontecorvo's film "The Battle of Algiers", to play the role of Hassiba Ben Bouali, one of the heroines of the Battle of the Casbah d 'Algiers alongside Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Rouiched.. The action of the film "The Battle of Algiers" takes place in 1957, in Algeria, the people, supported by the FLN, revolt against the French occupier. On both sides, extreme methods are used: torture by the French army and the poor man's war, terrorism by Algerians in revolt against the power in place. The war will spare no one. In the Casbah district of Algiers, a former delinquent, Ali La Pointe, refuses to stop the fighting, even when the situation seems desperate. For his part, Colonel Mathieu tries as best he can to carry out his mission, even if it means resorting to drastic means... The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1966. After the success of the film, the dazzling notoriety for the cast mainly made up of non-professionals, and despite the encouragement of Gillo Pontecorvo the young actress did not continue her career. She will reappear in interviews in the documentaries dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the cult film. She died on Tuesday September 10, 2019 in Algiers, at the age of 79.