Last Tuesday evening, in the large movie theater of the MK2 Bibliothèque in Paris, took place in the presence of more than 500 guests, the official premiere of the series "En guerre(s) pour l'Algérie" (At war(s) for Algeria) of which I was the co-author with Raphaelle Branche, and the director.
After the speeches of the president of ARTE Bruno Patino and of the president-director general of the INA Laurent Vallet, Raphaelle Branche warmly thanked the witnesses who appear in the series and who were present in large numbers in the room.
I then wanted to express my gratitude to Fabrice Puchault, Mark Edwards, Anne Grolleron and Alexandre Szalat from the documentary unit of ARTE France for having trusted me and for having accompanied my work with so much attention, requirement and intelligence. Then I thanked all the team who, at each stage of the work, accompanied and supported me with so much commitment. For the shooting of the interviews in France, then in Algeria: the technicians of the INA, with the operator Florian Bouchet in the lead, but also the Algerian production company Akham Films of Youcef Mansour, and finally all our interviewers. During the writing; the documentary filmmakers, Valérie Combard, Anna Michalak. For the editing (which lasted a year!): Camille Aurelle, Anne Renardet and Pierre Haberer, as well as Denis Batardière in the final stages, but also Frédéric Labonde. Without forgetting my faithful musician Jérôme Rebotier, the sound editor and mixer Guillaume Solignat, the whole post-production team of the INA, as well as François Prodromides and Lina Khoudry for their very precious contribution at the very end of this long adventure. Finally, I gave a special tribute to the production team: Marion Tissier, Vincent Encontre and the greatest work titan I have ever met, the producer Anne Gènevaux.
The first two episodes of the series were then screened and the audience welcomed them with great emotion and enthusiasm. At the end of three years of intense work, it was truly a moving and unforgettable evening!
Pictures by Didier Allard.