Summer 1962. The wave of repatriated settlers from Algeria breaks on the chilly welcome of metropolitan France, then on the eve of vacation. More than a million of them are stranded along the coast after years of war and violence. But metropolitan France knows little about their French land, apart from the fact that, to keep it part of France, entire families had seen a relative be sent there and sometimes to die in combat. In this film, 62 witnesses relate the epic conditions in which their ancestors came to settle on Algerian soil. Joining the Jews, who had set down roots there long before, here were the farm workers who had been forced by extreme poverty to leave Spain, Italy, Prussia and Malta, political opponents deported by Napoleon III, Communards, Neopolitan fishermen, a few adventurers too… All those who would make up the "pieds-noirs" community in the early 20th century. In this film, 45 years later, memories mingle, sometimes clash, as witnesses relate for the first time their personal history, that of the "Europeans of Algeria."

France - 2006 - 2 x 1h20 - DV Cam - Colour

Director : Gilles Perez
Camera : Claire Feinstein
Sound : Cyrille Carillon
Editing : Laurence Generet, Sylvie Laugier, Elisabeth Sacier
Music : Sylvie Aniorte-Paz, Bernard Menu, Gil Aniorte-Paz

Production : 13 au sud,
La Bastide, 13 rue Elie Pelas,
13016 Marseille, France
Tél : +33 (0)4 9109 1423
Fax : +33 (0)4 9113 7324

Co-Production : France 3 Méditerranée, France 3 Corse

with the participation of : France 3

Sales : 13 au sud,
La Bastide, 13 rue Elie Pelas,
13016 Marseille, France
Tél : +33 (0)4 9109 1423
Fax : +33 (0)4 9113 7324

Format: DV Cam. Colour
Running time: 2 x 1h20
Year of production: 2006


2007 | FIPA (Festival International des Programmes Audiovisuels | BIARRITZ, France
* Aspects of French Production
www.fipa.tm.fr/en/programs/2007/les-pieds-noirs-16493.htm