Under The Ashes

At a glance

Under The Ashes, is a 1990 Algerian movie, directed by Abdelkrim Baba Aissa, and starring Abdelkader Alloula, Mustapha El Anka, Ouardia Ould Taleb. with a runtime of 90 minutes.

Overview

Sous La Cendre (Under the Ashes) is an Algerian documentary that unearths a buried chapter of World War II history. Under the Vichy regime, French authorities in Algeria banned political parties and trade unions, rounding up thousands of dissidents — communist activists, trade unionists, Spanish republican brigadists, and other opponents — and interning them in so-called 'surveillance' camps. The film focuses on the notorious Djenien Bourezg camp in southern Algeria, one of the harshest of these facilities. Through the account of a veteran Algerian nationalist activist who returns to bear witness, the film illuminates the daily struggle of the camp's inmates to preserve their human dignity under fascist authority, restoring a forgotten episode to collective memory.

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