Algeria and France / 2004 / 9mins / Animation, History / French

In 1940 France went to war against Germany and announced not only the mobilization of its territory, but also of its colonies. Senegalese family man Aby enlists in the army, distinguishes himself in battle, and is captured. But when he returns to his country, the French army refuses to pay him for his services. This beautifully animated film records the 1944 incident in which Senegalese veterans were gunned down after demanding to receive payment for their military service.

Rachid Bouchareb

Since his first film, Rachid Bouchareb has been questioning and exploring immigration, rootlessness and mixed cultures. Born in Paris to an immigrated Algerian family in 1953, he was long seen as a curio within the French cinema. In 1987 together with his friend Jean Bréhat he founded the production firm 3B that produces all his films, and also Bruno Dumont's. Nominated to the Best Foreign Film Oscar with Poussières de vie in 1995, this fan of Sergio Leone's westerns and Macadam Cowboy met a critical and public success with Little Senegal (2000) shot among the Afro-American community in Harlem, New York. But his most important success so far has been Indigènes (collective interpretation prize in Cannes Film Festival in 2006 and big hit at the French box office). His 2010 film Hors-la-loi - presented at Cannes among the official competition- gives a close look on what happened in Algeria after 1945: three brothers face the first demonstrations for independence. Slack Bay (2016), which he co-produced, was nominated for a César Award for Best Film in 2017. Learn More