Dark Night, October 17, 1961

Parisian authorities clash with the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) in director Alain Tasma’s recounting of one of the darkest moments of the Algerian War of Independence. As the war wound to a close and violence persisted in the streets of Paris, the FLN and its supporters adopted the tactic of murdering French policemen in hopes of forcing a withdrawal. When French law enforcement retaliated by brutalizing Algerians and imposing a strict curfew, the FLN organizes a peaceful demonstration that drew over 11,000 supporters, resulting in an order from the Paris police chief to take brutal countermeasures. Told through the eyes of both French policemen as well as Algerian protestors, Tasma’s film attempts to get to the root of the tragedy by presenting both sides of the story.

Cast

Ouassini Embarek Abdé Atmen Kelif Tarek Abdelhafid Metalsi Ali Saïd

Hocine Choutri Ahmed

Mounir Margoum Mohamed

Ahcène Nini Le réfractaire

Jalil Naciri Maurice

Salem Kali L'Algérien au barrage

Reda Samoudi Hocine

Djemel Barek L'homme de l'escalier

Tayeb Belmihoub Haroun

Adel Bencherif Le collecteur

Metadata from the source database.