Documentary: One woman's quest to break her family's silence on the Algerian War

A third-generation Harki, Sarah decides she can no longer accept her family's silence about the painful past. By looking into the story of her Harki grandfather, who fought alongside the French forces against the pro-independence National Liberation Front during the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962), she respectfully but persistently attempts to break the wall of silence. This omerta exists within her own family, but also among members of the Harki community who were interned in the Bias camp in south-western France.

Although the camp today resembles a village, it still bears witness to this shameful past. Refugees from the time and their descendants continue to live there. Little by little, by speaking to them, Sarah manages to assemble the pieces of a complex jigsaw puzzle. This mosaic of family memory is also part of 20^th-century French history.

The film has won the following prizes at documentary film festivals:

Audience award at the FIGRA Film Festival, "Autrement Vu" section

Special jury award at the Torino Film Festival

Best documentary award at the Festival du Film arabe de Fameck (Fameck Arab Film Festival)

Best documentary award and Dams jury award at the Rome International Documentary Festival

Best documentary award and Best photography award at the Documentaria Film Festival

Best direction award at the Sole Luna Film Festival

Special mention at the FESCAAAL (African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival) in Milan

France in Focus A war without a name: France's controversial colonial past in Algeria

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