A Prism of Censorship and Ambivalence: Chronique d'un été and Algérie, année zéro

Abstract

abstract:Chronique d'un été (Chronicle of a Summer, Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, 1961) fails to make a clear statement concerning the controversial Franco-Algerian War (1954–1962) and its associated torture, terrorism, and draft. This article explores the reasons for Chronique d'un été's ambivalence before unearthing Algérie, année zéro (Algeria, year zero, 1962), a virtually unknown documentary filmed two months after the war by an activist couple featured in Chronique d'un été, Marceline Loridan and Jean-Pierre Sergent. Using Jacques Derrida's term différance, I argue that the films overlap, contradict, and parallel each other to reveal the French Left's evolving relationship with Algeria.