Zabana!

Algeria 2012,146 Min, English subtitles
in the presence of director Said Ould Khelifa

February 15, 1956: the French government, with Francois Mitterrand as minister of justice, calls for execution by guillotine for Algerian freedom fighters who are sentenced to death. June 19, 1956: the 30-year-old Ahmed Zabana is decapitated at dawn in Algiers, igniting the Battle of Algiers. In this historical drama, the desires and resistance of the people crystallize in the figure of Zabana, who had fought against colonial rule for years.

Algeria’s candidate for an Oscar nomination for best foreign language film.

Saïd Ould Khalifa, born in 1951, made his directorial debut in 1991 with the feature-length film “White Shadow.” Prior to that, he worked as a journalist from 1969 to 1989 – first in Algeria, then in France. His feature film “Zabana!” was a candidate for an Oscar nomination in 2013 in the category “Best Foreign Language Film.”