The politically committed film-maker René Vautier, died on January 4th 2015 at the age of 86. Born on January 15th 1928 at Camaret-sur-Mer in Brittany, he joined the Resistance in 1943. After the war, he obtained his degree at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) and joined the French Communist Party. He is known for his politically committed films which fight capitalism and colonialism, notably with “Avoir vingt ans dans les Aurès” in 1973. His films have often been censored and one, “Afrique 50” was banned for 40 years and resulted in his imprisonment for a year. Commissioned by the Ligue de l’enseignement to film French education in the colonies, he simply filmed the appalling things he saw. In 1972, he began a hunger strike to obtain an official authorisation for Jacques Panijel’s documentary “Octobre à Paris” about “the massacre of Algerians in Paris on October 17th 1961 by police forces under Maurice Papon”. Once authorisation had been granted, he stopped his hunger strike.
Sources: lemonde.fr, lopinion.ma
