El Hadi leads a simple life in the Algerian province. He is a family man and one of countless anonymous veterans of the Algerian War of Independence. When the war began in 1954, El Hadi was 14 years old. At 20, he volunteered as a fidai, an urban guerrilla for the Algerian Liberation Front (FLN) in France. He carried out two assassinations in Paris. 50 years later, director Damien Ounouri embarks on a journey through time with his uncle El Hadi. In a touching documentary, a French filmmaker and his great-uncle embark on a journey through the dark past of the Algerian liberation movement FLN in the 1950s. They travel from Algeria to France and visit places that witnessed repression, torture and violence. The great-uncle, once an underground fighter, confronts the painful memories of his youth without rewriting or judging history. The film, which walks a tightrope between the present and the past, bears witness to the positive transformation of people and times and does a careful job of remembrance. Thanks to its authentic and sensitive portrayal, the documentary has not only managed to touch audiences, but has also gained international recognition and won several awards. “Damien Onouri's sensitive, personal contemporary witness film opens a new chapter in the discussion of revolutionary violence, beyond victimization and heroization.” (Der Standard)eng
The gripping documentary FIDAI is about a veteran of the Algerian war.
El Hadi leads a simple life in the Algerian province. He is a family man and one of countless anonymous veterans of the Algerian War of Independence. When the war began in 1954, El Hadi was 14 years old. At 20, he volunteered as a fidai, an urban guerrilla for the Algerian Liberation Front (FLN) in France. He carried out two assassinations in Paris. 50 years later, director Damien Ounouri embarks on a journey through time with his uncle El Hadi.
In a touching documentary, a French filmmaker and his great-uncle embark on a journey through the dark past of the Algerian liberation movement FLN in the 1950s. They travel from Algeria to France and visit places that witnessed repression, torture and violence. The great-uncle, once an underground fighter, confronts the painful memories of his youth without rewriting or judging history.
The film, which walks a tightrope between the present and the past, bears witness to the positive transformation of people and times and does a careful job of remembrance. Thanks to its authentic and sensitive portrayal, the documentary has not only managed to touch audiences, but has also gained international recognition and won several awards.
“Damien Onouri's sensitive, personal contemporary witness film opens a new chapter in the discussion of revolutionary violence, beyond victimization and heroization.” (Der Standard)eng