Screens of the World

And All To Free France

by Éric BLANCHOT

Infos

Original title : Ils étaient la France libre

Director : Éric BLANCHOT

Production : French Connection Films, France 3 Alsace

Duration : 52 Minutes

Year : 2004

Original version : French

Country : France

Synopsis

The 500.000 children from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco in the Army of Africa are the forgotten ones of the Liberation of France. In August 1944, after glorious victories in Tunisia and Italy, they landed in Provence and liberated Marseilles and Toulon. Pushing the Germans back, they advanced up the Rhone Valley and were greeted as liberators in Lyon, Besançon and Belfort. But while France, already wanting to forget the war, celebrated its liberation by the Americans, North African units in the Vosges were facing German reinforcements who intended to defend Alsace to the very last. In December 1944, on the Alsace Plain, a company of infantrymen without supplies were surrounded and did battle in no less than minus fifteen degrees. They waited in vain for reinforcements and died in sacrifice, the majority to be forgotten. Sixty years later, while witnesses continue to question who was responsible for this tragedy, veterans of the Army of Africa ensure that the story remains intact.

Awards

Official selection: Strasbourg European Film Festival

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