Argent Films launches its new HD Collection of Cinema Classics with the first ever UK Blu-ray release of one of the most acclaimed films of all time. Presented uncut and digitally remastered in HD from the original 35mm print, this release of The Battle Of Algiers also commemorates the 50th anniversary of Algerian independence.
The deserved winner of numerous awards, including a BAFTA UN Award and both the Golden Lion and the FIPRESCI Award at the 1966 Venice Film Festival, the film is a regular fixture in critics’ and filmmakers’ “Greatest Movies of All Time” lists and was also nominated for three Oscars, including Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film. An extremely powerful, deeply moving and often shocking cinematic experience, it’s an astonishing film that presents a poignant and admirably unbiased view of a tragic period in modern history. As powerful today as it was on its original release, it is, perhaps, even more relevant in today’s global political climate than ever before and makes for essential viewing.
Set during the 1954 to 1962 Franco-Algerian conflict, the film effectively and authentically recreates the pivotal political events that took place in the city of Algiers between 1954 and 1957.
In an attempt to end French colonialism, which had been in place since 1830, in 1954 the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) began a war of liberation, using terrorism to highlight the plight of the Algerian people to the rest of the world. In response to the escalating terrorist violence in the city of Algiers, the French government sent in an armed force of paratroopers to crush the uprising. Authorised to use whatever force and methods were believed to be necessary in bringing an end to the revolution, the actions of the French military led to a regrettable catalogue of atrocities being committed by those on both sides of the conflict.
The Battle Of Algiers was directed by Oscar nominated director Gillo Pontecorvo (Queimada), starring veteran French actor Jean Martin (The Day Of The Jackal), impressive non-professional actor Brahim Haggiag and real-life senior FLN leader (and co-producer of the film) Saadi Yacef.
THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS BLU-RAY 50th Anniversary Edition - Argent Films Ltd. Published via LongTail.tv
- Interviews with the director Gillo Pontecorvo, Saadi Yacef, Zohra Drif Bitat
- exclusive presentation by director Paul Greengrass;
- exclusive presentation by and interview with director Ken Loach
- Trailers
- On-set & Venice Festival win
- photo galleries
- Booklet by author-scholar David Forgacs, Professor at NYU,on how and why the film came about and how it was shaped by the award winning Italian filmmakers and its ex-FLN producer, whose memoir the film is based on.
The Battle Of Algiers will be released for First time on Blu Ray in UK&Ireland by Argent Films on July 2nd.
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