The Battle of Algiers
Contemporary audiences could be forgiven for thinking Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers is a documentary; this shocking and powerful war movie is neorealism to the nth degree. A jittery, hand-held portrait of rebels vs. the French government during the near decade-long Algerian war, Pontecorvo used mostly non-professional actors and a newsreel approach to the explosive dramatics. Nominated for several Oscars, including Best Foreign Language Film and Director, the film won the Golden Lion at the 1966 Venice Film Festival.
More Trailers with David Zeiger
About David Zeiger
Guggenheim Fellow David Zeiger has been making documentary films and series for 20 years, starting with The Band, a film about his son’s junior year in high school, broadcast on the PBS series P.O.V. in 1997. His short documentary, Funny Old Guys, was broadcast in 2002 by HBO. His 2006 film, Sir! No Sir!, ran theatrically in 65 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada and was broadcast in 200 countries worldwide. It won Best Documentary at the Los Angeles Film Festival (Audience Award) and Hamptons Film Festival, and Seeds of War Award at the Full Frame Documentary Festival. In 2010 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and in 2012 completed his first narrative feature, Sweet Old World.