Dawn of the Damned (1965)
This excellent feature-length documentary - the story of the imperialist colonization of Africa - is a film about death. Its most shocking sequences derive from the captured French film archives in Algeria containing - unbelievably - masses of French-shot documentary footage of their tortures, massacres and executions of Algerians. The real death of children, passers-by, resistance fighters, one after the other, becomes unbearable. Rather than be blatant propaganda, the film convinces entirely by its visual evidence, constituting an object lesson for revolutionary cinema.
Released: Jul 05, 1965
Runtime: 85 minutes
Genre: Documentary, History, Drama
Stars: Mouloud Mammeri, Mohamed Chouikh, René Vautier, Ahmed Rachedi, Mazouz Ould-Abderrahmane, Sid Ahmed Agoumi
Crew: Nasredine Guénifi (Cinematography), Sidi Boumedienne Dahmane (Sound), Rabah Dabouz (Editor), Ahmed Rachedi (Director), Ahmed Rachedi (Writer), Mouloud Mammeri (Writer)