History of Pottery and Ceramics in Algeria

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

January 1996 •French

60 years ago, in the Algerian desert, an atomic bomb, equivalent to three or even four times Hiroshima, exploded. Named the “Blue Gerboise”, it was the first atomic bomb tested by France, and of hitherto unrivaled power. This 70 kiloton plutonium bomb was launched in the early morning, in the Reggane region, in southern Algeria, during the French colonial era. If this test allowed France to become the 4th nuclear power in the world, it had catastrophic repercussions. France had, at the time, certified that the radiation was well below the standard safety threshold. However, in 2013, declassified files revealed that the level of radioactivity had been much higher than announced, and had been recorded from West Africa to the south of Spain.

Intercept: A Century of Signals Intelligence

September 2023 •English

A thought provoking documentary feature film providing a comprehensive exploration of the evolution of signals intelligence over the past century. Whether you're intrigued by the secretive world of intelligence agencies or concerned about the implications of digital surveillance, this film will leave you with a deeper understanding of the role signals intelligence plays in society.

Séfar, A City of Mysteries

November 2021 •French

Séfar (in Arabic: سيفار) is an ancient city in the heart of the Tassili n'Ajjer mountain range in Algeria, more than 2,400 km south of Algiers and very close to the Libyan border. Séfar is the largest troglodyte city in the world, with several thousand fossilized houses. Very few travelers go there given its geographical remoteness and especially because of the difficulties of access to the site. The site is full of several paintings, some of which date back more than 12,000 years, mostly depicting animals and scenes of hunting or daily life which testify that this hostile place has not always been an inhabited desert. Local superstition suggests that the site is inhabited by djins, no doubt in connection with the strange paintings found on the site.

Algérie du possible

December 2016 •French

By meeting his former comrades in combat, the film follows the journey of Yves Mathieu, anti-colonialist in Black Africa then lawyer for the FLN. When Algeria became independent, he drafted the Decrees of March on vacant property and self-management, promulgated in 1963 by Ahmed Ben Bella. Yves Mathieu's life is punctuated by his commitments in an Algeria that was then called "The Lighthouse of the Third World". The director, who is his daughter, returns to the conditions of his death in 1966.

Algerian Refugees

January 1958 •French

Directed by Pierre Clément and Djamel-Eddine Chanderli, produced by the FLN Information Service in 1958, this film is a rare document. Pierre Clément is considered one of the founders of Algerian cinema. In this film he shows images of Algerian refugee camps in Tunisia and their living conditions. A restored DVD version released in 2016, from the 35 mm original donated by Pierre Clément to the Contemporary International Documentation Library (BDIC).

Rietveld Houses: A piece of furniture to live in

June 2024 •Dutch

In 2024, the iconic Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht will celebrate its 100th anniversary. Gerrit Rietveld designed and built the house in close collaboration with his secret lover and creative partner Truus Schröder. Rietveld himself did not build his houses for eternity; he thought a life cycle of 50 years was sufficient. But the current owners of houses designed by Rietveld think differently about this. They pull out all the stops to renovate and preserve their Rietveld houses.

Il fare politica

May 2005 •Italian

Fabiana, Carlo, Claudio and Vincenzo… I met them in 1982 in Mercatale, their village in Tuscany, near Florence. They were aged between 25 and 45 and were cheerful militants in the Italian Communist Party, that strange party which has made its mark on history and which was both a school and a family for them. I have filmed in Mercatale every two or three years for over 20 years (1982/2004). The fi lm takes the “long view” of their political and personal development against the backdrop of village life. Stories with both human and political interest spanning over a quarter of a century with relevance for present day issues: what has become of the plans to change the world in Berlusconi’s Italy? From a more global perspective: what else can politics do? When the time comes to take stock the paths of their rich and varied personal lives cross once more with all their doubts and allegiances.

Algérie 1962: Chronique d'un conflit

January 1962 •French

Mururoa 1973

October 1973 •English

In 1973 Alister Barry joined the crew of a protest boat (The Fri) to Mururoa Atoll, where the French Government were testing nuclear weapons. Barry records the assembly of the crew, the long journey from Northland, and their reception in the test zone; when The Fri was boarded and impounded by French military he had to hide his camera in a barrel of oranges.

Funny, You Don't Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville

October 1987 •English

An all-star cast lead by Richard Dreyfus perform sketches celebrating the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, including new animation done by Disney.

Glimpses of Morocco and Algiers

August 1951 •English

This FitzPatrick Traveltalk short visits the cities of Casablanca, Rabat, and Marrakesh in Morocco, as well as the city of Algiers in Algeria.

Anne Frank's Holocaust

June 2015 •English

Anne Frank's world famous diary came to an abrupt end shortly before she and her family were discovered hiding from the Nazis in a secret annex at the top of Otto Frank's office building, on August 4, 1944. While her diary tells the story of Anne's life, the story of her death reveals the atrocities encountered by millions of Jews during the Holocaust. In a solemn remembrance of the horrors that Anne Frank and these millions of others suffered during the dark days of World War II, National Geographic Channel (NGC) takes viewers inside the concentration camps in a two-hour special. In keeping with NGC's tradition of unparalleled storytelling, Anne Frank's Holocaust incorporates new findings and rarely seen photographs to reintroduce the story of the massacre of Jews in one of the most comprehensive documentaries on the subject to date.

Mixed Race Britain: How the World Got Mixed Up

October 2011 •English

Documentary telling the surprising and positive story of how, throughout much of history, the races of the world's empires mixed together unquestioningly.

Pythéas, l'astronome voyageur

November 2013 •French

Ancient Algiers

August 2024 •Arabic

In the heart of the historic Casbah of Algiers, buzzing with life, we follow a day in the life of Mousaab, a passionate Algerian teenager navigating his challenges while his love for his local football club runs deep.

The Odyssey of Priam's Gold

January 2020 •French

From the plains of the Troade, to the cellars of a Nazi bunker, to the dark basements of Moscow's largest museum. With Homer and in the footsteps of the extremely wealthy businessman Heinrich Schliemann, we follow the true odyssey of the treasure of Priam which spans over more than 3 millennia.

Larmes De Sang

October 1979 •French

A documentary film about Algerian women

The Little Ancestor

September 2024 •

An ancestral house builds itself, comes to life, and shows us its story spanning one hundred fifty years. Through the ages, it allows us to perceive the passage of time.

Napoleon’s Downfall: German Campaign 1813

Invalid date •English

Documentary by Real Time History chronicling Napoleon’s defeat in the 1813 campaign which ended the domination of the First French Empire

Algeria, Memoirs of Raï

January 2001 •French

In the 1980s, Algeria experienced a tumultuous social context which reached its peak during the riots of October 88. This wave of protest, with youth as its figurehead, echoed the texts of raï singers. Thirst for freedom, misery of life and the aspirations of youth are among the main themes of their works which will inspire an entire generation. More than music, raï celebrates the Arabic language and becomes a vector of Algerian culture, thus providing the cultural weapons of emerging Algerian nationalism With Cheb Khaled, Cheb Mami and Chaba Fadela as leaders of the movement, raï is also a way of telling and reflecting the essence of Algeria in these difficult times. While the threat weighs on artists in Algeria, their exile allows raï to be exported internationally and thus, to bring the colors of Algeria to life throughout the world.