The Debating Society is on a bit of break for the summer, as you may have guessed, but to help keep things ticking over until everyone has returned from their holidays in exotic Bundoran, we'll be organising a film showing to take place on Thursday the 2nd of August.
The film in question is The Battle of Algiers, a film that dramatises the Algerian struggle for independence from France. First released in 1966, the film has since inspired anti-colonial and national liberation movements around the world. Anyone wishing to do a bit of reading beforehand may find this article of interest: The Battle of Algiers and Its Lessons:
Sartre points to the real issue at stake:
"This rebellion is not merely challenging the power of the settlers, but their very being. For most Europeans in Algeria, there are two complementary and inseparable truths: the colonists are backed by divine right, the natives are sub-human. This is a mythical interpretation of reality, since the riches of the one are built on the poverty of the other. In this way exploitation puts the exploiter at the mercy of his victim, and the dependence itself begets racialism. It is a bitter and tragic fact that, for the Europeans in Algeria, being a man means first and foremost superiority to the Moslems. But what if the Moslem finds in his turn that his manhood depends on equality with the settler? It is then that the European begins to feel his very existence diminished and cheapened."
The screening will take place on Thursday 2nd August, in the Felons’ Club. The film will begin at 7.45pm sharp.
