The French-speaking press has largely relayed the broadcasting of the series EN GUERRE(S) POUR L'ALGÉRIE (AT WARS FOR ALGERIA) on ARTE at the very beginning of March. Here are some extracts:
A necessary gesture of collective remembrance. (...) Essential.
Télérama
This series succeeds in the difficult challenge of not taking a position and lets the protagonists tell their Algerian war without hatred or resentment. (...) An incredible series that gives a perfect overview of this war. The witnesses and the archive images are exceptional.
Cable Satellite TV
Shock documentary (...) Incredible and necessary project.
Var Matin
The film interweaves personal accounts and official or "historical" images with a fluidity and intelligence that add to its great interest the mark of a style.
Politis
A masterful documentary series.
Télé Obs
By relying on a profusion of testimonies, this documentary series advances the understanding of a complex conflict. (...) Little by little, as the strokes of paint of a pointillist painting end up forming a whole, a reality takes shape, all in nuances. The authors do not deliver any ready-to-think. They incite the spectator to go backwards from the received ideas and the hasty conclusions.
Historia
It is perhaps the story as it had never been told before
Télé Star
To have surpassed the Manichaeism that has reigned supreme for decades opens up new perspectives for this documentary that places itself at the level of memory and bruised flesh, whatever the place of commitment and the suffering of each person in the conflict. By skillfully blending the lives of all these witnesses and confronting their emotional perceptions, the documentary becomes fascinating by linking their words with many archives, often unpublished, some of which are striking.
El Watan
This series offers viewers an immersion in a story of history, but especially in the human experience of war. (...) Not to be missed!
Télé 15 jours
A very well constructed story.
Télé-Loisirs
Little by little, as the dabs of paint in a pointillist painting end up forming a whole, a reality takes shape, all in nuances. The authors do not deliver any ready-to-think. They incite the spectator to go backwards from the received ideas and the hasty conclusions.
Historia
The richness of the testimonies sheds a new light on the story of these events.
L'Humanité
A rare exercise in shared memory. (...) The words of the witnesses, always full of emotion, shed light on this series, one of the most ambitious ever produced by television. (...) This film of more than five hours will be a reference.
Mondafrique
In six fascinating episodes, a precise and educational story (...) carried by enlightening testimonies and by the voice of the actress Lyna Khoudri. (...) It is truly a great page of History that this series offers us, which we would like to see broadcast in schools, high schools and universities.
La Croix
What a work of archives! We have rarely been so well immersed in beautiful Algiers, then on the front, in the mountains of Oran. This meticulous realization is the work of Rafael Lewandowski.
Le Figaro
The strength of ARTE's documentary (...) is that it gives a voice to all the actors of the conflict. (...) They speak freely, in front of the camera, accompanied by archival images and their testimonies are of an incredible strength. (...) Precious.
Liberation
The six episodes offer a striking panorama of one of the most violent and traumatic colonial conflicts of the 20th century. (...) One of the great merits of this documentary is to make this reality tangible and understandable.
Focus Vif Belgique
