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HistoryAlgeria

Ciné-Guerrillas: Scenes from the Labudović Reels

June 23, 2025

Serbian director Mila Turajlic explores the power of cinema as a weapon in the political struggle.

Ciné-Guerrillas: Scenes from the Labudović Reels - Algeria’s War of Independence
Stevan Labudović was the cameraman of Yugoslav President Tito. In this capacity, he traveled through contemporary history and, in particular, brought back the only images of the Algerian War that were not taken from the perspective of France.Image: Andana

Her film "Ciné-Guerrillas” is a portrait of cameraman Stevan Labudović, who documented the war of independence in Algeria on behalf of Tito.

Image: Andana

What do the Algerian liberation struggle and Yugoslavia have in common? Stevan Labudović. In 1959, Tito himself sent his favorite cameraman to Algeria. The world needed to witness resistance to French colonial rule, he believed. The images captured by experienced partisan Labudović gave the lie to the propaganda of the occupiers and their western allies. This is a portrait of a man, a mission and a time -  a filmic, ideological and personal story.

Image: Andana

For three years, until the proclamation of the Democratic Republic of Algeria, Labudović put himself and his camera at the service of those who were fighting for independence. 

Image: Andana

After finding newsreel footage in the archive of Filmske Novosti ("filmed news”) in Belgrade, Mila Turajlić contacted the now elderly man and set out to tell his story. 

Image: Andana

Drawing on a wealth of archive material, diary entries by and interviews with Labudović, as well as accounts from contemporary witnesses, Turajlić looks at the promising origins of the alliance that would become the "Non-Aligned Movement.” Still politically topical, this film is a tribute to Labudović.

 

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