Hors la loi (Outside the Law)

Algeria/France 2010, 140 Min, English subtitles

After a massacre, three brothers and their mother end up dispersed around the world: Messaoud is conscripted by the French army and sent to Indochina, Abdelkader becomes a leader of the Algerian independence movement, and Saïd seeks his fortune in the nightclubs and boxing rings of Place Pigalle. Divergent though their life paths are, the brothers are reunited in Paris – in the shantytowns of the French capital, where freedom is a battle that has to be fought and won. Even before its premiere, this historical action-drama triggered heated debate in France about colonial crimes.

Nominated for an Oscar for best foreign language film, and for the Palme d’Or in Cannes in 2011.