Native

Synopsis

In 1943 , after the Americans landed in Algeria and Morocco , the Liberation Army was formed from the French colonies of North Africa . The film tells the discovery of war and Europe , from Italy to the gates of Alsace , by three Algerian riflemen and a Moroccan goumier : Abdelkader, Saïd, Mesaoud and Yassir. The war brings them disillusionment with discrimination but also the emergence of a political conscience and hope.

Technical sheet

• French title: Indigènes
• Arabic title: بلديون
• Director: Rachid Bouchareb
• Screenplay: Olivier Lorelle
• Music: Armand Amar and Khaled (composition of additional music)
• Sets: Dominique Douret
• Costumes: Michèle Richer
• Photography: Patrick Blossier
• Editing: Yannick Kergoat
• Sound: Olivier Hespel , Olivier Walczak , Franck Rubio and Thomas Gauder
• Production: Jean Bréhat
  • Co-production: Jamel Debbouze , Genevieve Lemal , Alexandre Lippens , Jaques-Henri Bronckart , Caroline Cochaux
• Production company: Tessalit Productions , in co-production with Kiss Films, France 2 Cinema , France 3 Cinema , SCOPE Invest, Studiocanal , Taza Productions, Tassili Films and Versus Production
• Budget: 14.4 million euros
• Country of origin: Algeria , Belgium , France and Morocco
• Original languages: French and Arabic
• Format: Color – 2.35: 1 – Dolby Digital / DTS – 35 mm
• Duration: 128 minutes / 120 minutes (short version)
• Release dates:
  •  France : May 25 , 2006 (Cannes film festival) ; September 27 , 2006 (national release)
  •  Switzerland : August 3 , 2006
  •  United States : September 3 , 2006 (Telluride Festival); February 17 , 2007( limited release )
  •  Canada : September 9 , 2006
  •  Belgium : October 4 , 2006
  •  Morocco : December 4 , 2006
• DVD release date: April 5 , 2007 (La France)

Distribution

• Jamel Debbouze : Said Otmani
• Samy Naceri : Yassir
• Roschdy Zem : Messaoud Souni
• Bernard Blancan : Sergeant Roger Martinez
• Sami Bouajila : Corporal Abdelkader
• Assaad Bouab : Larbi, little brother of Yassir
• Aurélie Eltvedt : Irene
• Benoît Giros : Captain Durieux
• Mathieu Simonet : Corporal Leroux
• Mélanie Laurent : Marguerite of the Vosges village
• Thibault de Montalembert : Captain Martin
• Diouc Koma : Toure
• Philippe Beglia : Rambert
• Momo Debbouze : Djellal
• Abdelkim Bouchareb : Ahmed
• Abdelhamid Idjaini : Omar
• Abdeslam Arbaoui : The father of Omar

Around the film

• ” Indigenous ” is the term used in colonial armies to designate officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers from the colonies. This term was still in use at the end of the Second World War and designated soldiers from the French colonies who constituted a significant part of the French forces reconstituted in North Africa after the Allied landing in North Africa in November 1942 and who fought against the armies of the Axis forces during the campaigns of Tunisia , Italy and France. In fall 1944, the 1 ^st French army, Numbering about 250,000 fighters, is made up of half native elements (Maghreb and African) and half of Europe from North Africa ² . In the divisions of the 1 ^st Army, the percentage of North African soldiers ranged from 27% in the 1 ^st DB and 56% at 2 ^e DIM . By type of weapon, the percentage was about 70% in the regiments of infantry, 40% in engineering and 30% in the artillery ³ .
• The Algerian infantry Abdelkader Said Mesaoud and belong to 7 ^th regiment Algerian infantry ( 7 ^e RTA) of 3 ^e Algerian infantry division ( 3 ^e DIA) .
• The day of the presentation of the film in the dark rooms in France , the September 27 , 2006, the government Dominique de Villepin announced that the 80,000 veterans of the French Empire still alive will receive the same pensions as their French companions in arms. However, this ” crystallization of pensions ” still raises questions. The payment of arrears and interest over a period of more than forty years remains unresolved. The payment of pensions blocked in 1959 by the French government following the accession to independence of the former colonies is one of the demands of film ⁴ .
• The film, which was partly shot in Ouarzazate , was helped significantly by Morocco , which has provided the director military means ⁵ . It was also shot in the Vosges ( Bains-les-Bains , Fontenoy-le-Chateau ), the Haute-Saone( Faucogney-et-la-Mer ⁶ ), Bas-Rhin in particular in Strasbourg , Haut-Rhin , Bouches-du-Rhône , Gard , Algeria and Italy .

Home

Box office

In France, the film made 3.2 million admissions ⁷ .

Home Review

Historical controversies

The historical accuracy of the film was debated, in particular by General Jean Germain Salvan ⁸ and by the historian Daniel Lefeuvre ⁹ who confirmed that the percentage of the losses of the French Muslims was lower than that of the French of North Africa (Feet -Noirs) and the French of metropolis. These historians said: “As for losses in combat, they were 8% for the native French, and 4.4% for mobilized Muslims. The natives were therefore not cannon fodder , as the film suggests. Maurice Faivre, doctor of history and historian of the armies, estimated, in 2010, the number of Maghrebian killed of the armies of the liberation between 1943 and 1945 to 18 300 and the number of killed among the Blackfoot to 12 000 and, in percentage, 10% for Blackfoot, 6% for North Africans and Metropolitans and 5% for Africans ^10 , 11 . The figures provided by the Defense Historical Service , concerning the losses of the French Army of the Liberation between 1943 and 1945 ( campaign of Tunisia , campaign of Italy and campaign of France and Germany), reported 5 187 killed (including 3 458 North Africans) in Tunisia from November 1942 to May 1943, 6 255 killed (including 4 000 North Africans) in Italy from November 1943 to June 1944 and 10 461 killed (including 3 716 North Africans) in France and Germany from August 15, 1944 to May 8, 1945 totaling about 22,000 killed (including 11,000 North Africans) ¹² .

The historian Pascal Blanchard , the film’s historical consultant, considers that the controversy is not legitimate: “The role of cinema is not to present history as a whole. In an hour or two, you can not sweep a complex situation. What to ask is if this movie truncates reality. The answer is no, ” but he makes a reservation: ” It is true that in the spirit of maintaining the historical reality, it would have been good to evoke these excesses [the violence in Italy]. But you have to know the difference between a history documentary and a fiction film based on history ” ¹³ .

Part of the troops were accused of robbery, rape, murder on the Italian civilian population in 1944 ¹⁴ . On this subject, in a letter addressed to General de Gaulle on July 18, 1944, Marshal Jean de Lattre de Tassigny writes about Moroccan goumiers : “I know that they are accused of acts of violence committed against them. Italian civilians, but I think that such facts have been singularly distorted and exaggerated to anti-French for ¹⁵ . ”

Distinctions

Awards

• 2006 Cannes Film Festival : Best Actor Award, collectively attributed to Sami Bouajila , Jamel Debbouze , Samy Naceri , Roschdy Zem and Bernard Blancan , and Prix François-Chalais for Rachid Bouchareb
• Chicago International Film Festival 2006: Special Jury Prize (Silver Hugo) and Audience Award
• Valladolid International Film Festival 2006: Audience Award
• National Board of Review Awards 2006: Top 5 foreign films
• Golden Stars [2007: Gold Star of the French Film (tied with Lady Chatterley
• César 2007 : César for best screenplay , César for best editing , César for best costumes
• 2007 Lighting Award : Best Screenplay Award

Nominations and selections

• 2006 Cannes Film Festival : official selection in competition for the Palme d’Or
• Camerimage 2006: In competition for the Golden Frog for Patrick Blossier
• Chicago International Film Festival 2006: In Competition for Gold Hugo
• Valladolid International Film Festival 2006: in competition for the Golden Spike (Espiga de Oro)
• César 2007 : César for best film , César for best director , César for best music , César for best photography , César for best decor , César for best sound
• Oscars 2007 : Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film
• Independent Spirit Awards 2007: Best foreign film
• NAACP Image Awards 2007: Best foreign or independent film
• Critics ‘Choice Movie Awards 2007: Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Notes and references