Trauma, Cinema and the Algerian War

This article analyses the depiction of the Algerian War in French and Algerian cinema, making use of trauma theory. In particular, Cathy Caruth’s assertions that trauma involves an “inherent latency” and that the most powerful filmic representations of trauma display “a seeing and a listening from the site of trauma” will be used to explore the ways in which Algerian cinema has engaged with the impact of the conflict on the indigenous people. Among the films addressed are The Battle of Algiers(Pontecorvo, 1965), Youcef (Chouikh, 1993), and La Maison jaune (Hakkar, 2007). Conclusions are also drawn about the role of cinema in providing images of the recent civil war in Algeria