The Cinematheque

Free Admission

“One of the best movies about revolutionary and anticolonial activism ever made, convincing, balanced, passionate, and compulsively watchable as storytelling.”

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

One of the great epics of revolutionary political cinema, Gillo Pontecorvo’s legendary The Battle of Algiers grippingly recreates the armed struggle for Algerian independence against France in the 1950s. Battle borrows from the stylebook of both Italian neorealism and cinéma vérité to create what feels like an on-the-ground account of real events: it was shot at the actual locations and employs a mostly nonprofessional cast, some of whom were real-life participants in the historical events being depicted. The film’s incendiary verisimilitude has kept it perennially relevant for political radicals and their adversaries (it was even studied at the Pentagon at the advent of the Iraq War). Paul Thomas Anderson’s recent nod in One Battle After Another is sure to inspire a new generation of devotees to Pontecorvo’s classic critique of colonialism—and adulation of those brave enough to resist.

In French and Arabic with English subtitles

Print courtesy of Rialto Pictures

This free screening is presented as part of ​“Cinema Thinks the World,” a partnership project between The University of British Columbia and The Cinematheque. After the film, there will be a short reception followed by a one-hour panel talk with audience discussion.

Panellists: William Brown, Laura U. Marks, Eddy Troy

Please note: Unclaimed tickets for complimentary screenings at The Cinematheque will be released 15 minutes before showtime. Please arrive early to guarantee your seat.