Les Oliviers De La Justice (aka The Olive Trees Of Justice) (1962)

Set during the height of the Algerian War. When his father (Jean Pelegri) becomes ill, a Frenchman (Pierre Prothon) of Algerian descent returns to his mother country. He can't help but remember his boyhood growing up on his father's vineyard and contrasting it with the tank filled streets of contemporary Algiers. Based on the novel by Jean Pelegri and directed by James Blue. The recipient of the Critics Prize at the 1962 Cannes film festival, the film is shot in a documentary style with mainly non professional actors. The film was shot in Algiers during the last days of the Algerian war under the guise of shooting a documentary on the Algerian wine industry. It's a deceptively simple movie which doesn't overtly take sides but still shows how Algerians are treated as second class citizens in their own country by the colonialist French hence their fight for independence. By not pushing it, Blue is able to let the humanity of the story take center stage in a realistic and natural way. The restrained score is by Maurice Jarre (DOCTOR ZHIVAGO). With Marie Decaitre, Huguette Poggi and Said Achaibou.