Days of Glory

Muslims of France on Al Jazeera (English) is a documentary highlighting some aspects of history which are not much talked about, even (or should we say especially) in France. Indeed French troops who fought during World War I and  World War II  (or even during the Indochina War) did also include, among others, so-called “colonials”: large numbers of Algerians and Moroccans. This was finally brought to light and to a much larger audience, in France and internationally in 2006, through the prism of fiction and cinema, with the film Days of Glory, directed by Rachid Bouchared, and starring French actors of North African descent. Many of those who fought against Nazi Germany to liberate France later fought for the independence of Algeria, as seen in Outside the Law, second part of Bouchared’s trilogy, feature which sparked a political controversy in France in 2010.

It’s also worth noting that the Mosque of Paris, which seems here to “welcome” Nazi officials under the Vichy regime in occupied France, was actually used as a base by Muslim agents who fought for the French Resistance, subject of another film Free Men, directed by Ismael Ferroukhi and starring French-Algerian actor Tahar Rahim.