Fidaï

In Arabic, a “fidaï” is a fighter who has sworn his life to a cause, unafraid to be a martyr. mohamed El Hadi Benadouda was one of countless unsung veterans of the Algerian War of Independence against France, which freed Algeria of the colonial yoke it had worn for over a century. Joining the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) in secret while living in France, El Hadi was a loyal soldier who carried out assassinations, lived underground and did time in prison; when Algeria won its independence in 1962, he was expelled from France and returned to his home country.

Now seventy years old, on the fiftieth anniversary of Algeria's independence, El Hadi recounts his years of struggle and hardship to his greatnephew Damien Ounouri in the documentary FIDAÏ, which is both a tribute to the anonymous heroes of a war that galvanized the imaginations of colonized people worldwide, and a critical reflection on the legacy that the war imprinted on the “new” Algerian society. (Rasha Salti)

In the presence of Damien Ounouri.