For 60 Years, The Battle of Algiers Has Inspired Resistance

Even before Gillo Pontecorvo’s premiered at the Venice Film Festival on August 31, 1966, the film had generated a lot of buzz. The jury presided over by Italian writer Giorgio Bassani gave the film the Golden Lion, the main award of the festival, “for the courage with which it tackled such a difficult and highly controversial historical and political issue, or for the vigor with which it was able to master such a subject.” Beyond the praise, the film was also met with various polemics, which…