Dawn of the Damned

Jul 5, 1965

1h 25m

★ 7.2

Overview

This excellent feature-length documentary - the story of the imperialist colonization of Africa - is a film about death. Its most shocking sequences derive from the captured French film archives in Algeria containing - unbelievably - masses of French-shot documentary footage of their tortures, massacres and executions of Algerians. The real death of children, passers-by, resistance fighters, one after the other, becomes unbearable. Rather than be blatant propaganda, the film convinces entirely by its visual evidence, constituting an object lesson for revolutionary cinema.

Genres

Documentary

History

Drama

Production Companies

Centre National du Cinéma Algérien (CNCA)

Dawn of the Damned Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Narrator (voice)

Mouloud Mammeri

Mohamed Chouikh

René Vautier

Ahmed Rachedi

Mazouz Ould-Abderrahmane

Sid Ahmed Agoumi

Salah Teskouk

Samia Meziane

Mahdia Magroufel

Hamou Saadaoui

Daniel Boukman

These are the first images shot in the ALN maquis, camera in hand, at the end of 1956 and in 1957. These war images taken in the Aurès-Nementchas are intended to be the basis of a dialogue between French and Algerians for peace in Algeria, by demonstrating the existence of an armed organization close to the people. Three versions of Algeria in Flames are produced: French, German and Arabic. From the end of the editing, the film circulates without any cuts throughout the world, except in France where the first screening takes place in the occupied Sorbonne in 1968. Certain images of the film have circulated and are found in films, in particular Algerian films. Because of the excitement caused by this film, he was forced to go into hiding for 25 months. After the declaration of independence, he founded the first Algerian Audiovisual Center.

7.0

Rabbit-Proof Fence

Feb 4, 2002

In 1931, three Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their homes to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a trek across the Outback.

6.2

Flatfoot in Africa

Mar 22, 1978

Inspector Rizzo in Napoli gets a message from a policeman from South Africa who wants to meet him. Immediately before this meeting the South African policeman is killed. Dying he shows Rizzo a picture of his young son Bodo. Rizzo travels to Johannesburg to find out what the policeman was working on and to find Bodo.

8.5

The Forgotten Hill

May 19, 1996

At the outbreak of the Second World War, two friends, Mokrane and Menach, abruptly interrupt their studies and return to their remote native Kabylian village of Tagsa. While waiting to be drafted into the French Army they have time to woo. Mokrane falls for beautiful Aazi and soon marries her only to find out that she can bear no child. Menach, on his part, is stongly attracted to Davda, but the latter is already married to a rich merchant...Happiness does not seem to be in store for the two former students...

0.0

Triple O.G.

Nov 23, 2018

A son brings his girlfriend to meet his father for the first time, but a cordial afternoon soon takes a violent turn when intentions on both sides are revealed.

5.0

Yelbeedo

Jan 1, 1990

On their wedding night, a couple rescue a baby from a garbage bin only to adopt it some years later.

7.0

Gorillas in the Mist

Sep 23, 1988

The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.

6.2

Man to Man

Apr 13, 2005

An epic about anthropologists who hunt and capture pygmies for study back in Europe, in an attempt to illustrate the link between man and ape.

5.7

The Big Gamble

Jul 25, 1961

Irish seaman Vic Brennan persuades his Dublin family to finance a truck-hauling business in the remote African town of Jebanda. The only stipulation is that his cousin Samuel, a timid bank clerk, accompany Vic and his Corsican bride, Marie, to Africa and protect the family fortune.

No Image Available

0.0

Gorilla

Dec 23, 1974

This fascinating film tells the story of one man's struggle to protect a small population of gorillas on the slopes of Mount Kahuzi in Zaire and of his incredible relationship with Kasimir, the great silver-backed male, and his family.

0.0

The Mask

Sep 6, 1986

Bejo, 12 years old, lives with his brother Mario, a sculptor. Having heard the news on the radio his dream is to see the Bissau carnival, but he has been forbidden to do so. He escapes, wanders throught the forest, crosses rice fields until the river next to the city. His brother will look for him during the carnival...

6.9

Cobra Verde

Dec 3, 1987

A fearsome 19th century bandit, Cobra Verde cuts a swath through Brazil until he arrives at the sugar plantation of Don Octávio Countinho. Not knowing that his new guest is the notorious bandit and impressed by his ruthless ways, Don Octávio hires Cobra Verde to oversee his slaves. But when Cobra Verde impregnates Don Octávio’s three daughters, the incensed plantation owner exiles the outlaw to Africa where he is expected to reopen the slave trade. Following his trans-Atlantic journey, Cobra Verde exploits tribal conflicts to commandeer an abandoned fortress and whips an army of naked warriors into a frenzied bloodlust as he vies for survival.

8.0

Secret Violence

Feb 24, 1963

An Italian in East Africa having an affair with a coloured woman realises that his treatment of her is as tyrannical as more overt superior colonialist dogma. Based on a novel by Enrico Emmanuele.

6.5

The Wind and the Lion

May 22, 1975

At the beginning of the 20th century an American woman is abducted in Morocco by Berbers, and the attempts to free her range from diplomatic pressure to military intervention.

0.0

Die Wildnis stirbt!

Nov 13, 1936

A reportage cross-cutting film about the development of Africa from 1900-1936, using archive footage and film material from earlier African expeditions.

6.0

Gorillas Close Up

Sep 24, 2022

Gabon's Loango National Park is home to a group of western lowland gorillas who have become accustomed to biologists who have studied them for almost twenty years. This documentary presents an intimate look at the silverback Kamaya and his family and features a newborn baby gorilla, brave researchers, forest elephants, buffalos and the last remaining wild coastline in the African tropics.

7.0

Mountain Gorilla

Mar 25, 1992

Mountain Gorilla takes us to a remote range of volcanic mountains in Africa, described by those who have been there as ""one of the most beautiful places in the world"", and home to the few hundred remaining mountain gorillas. In spending a day with a gorilla family in the mountain forest, audiences will be captivated by these intelligent and curious animals, as they eat, sleep, play and interact with each other. Although gorillas have been much-maligned in our popular culture, viewers will finally ""meet the legend"" face to face, and learn about their uncertain future.

7.0

All the Invisible Children

Mar 3, 2006

Seven short films - each one focused on the plight of a different child protagonist.

6.1

A Far Off Place

Mar 12, 1993

Thrown together under incredible circumstances, two strangers must discover courage and strength when they begin a journey across the treacherous African desert! Equipped only with their wits and the expertise of a native bushman who befriends them, they are determined to triumph over impossible odds and reach their destination. But along the way, the trio face a primitive desert wilderness.

9.0

The Beautiful Game

Oct 4, 2012

Across Africa, people are using soccer to lift themselves up, to create change in their communities and to pave the way for progress. "The Beautiful Game" follows several unforgettable Africans who are beating the odds on and off the pitch.