France, Algeria and the Moving Image

In the contemporary political sphere, the need to address the complex interactions between colonization, past and present violence, and audio-visual representation has never appeared more urgent. This is particularly true of France’s troubled relationship with Algeria where, even after decolonization, episodes of violence — police repression, torture, and terrorism — were often excluded from popular, political and historical accounts on both sides of the Mediterranean. By engaging in close readings of work by both European and Algerian filmmakers — including Michael Haneke, Alain Resnais, Assia Djebar, Xavier Beauvois, and Nadir Moknèche — Maria Flood’s wide-ranging study links historical omission to cinematic aesthetics, ultimately offering conclusions that inform wider thinking of the political power of film in the face of violence.

Maria Flood is Lecturer in Film Studies at Keele University.