The Student Oscars were held yesterday, Thursday October 20, in Los Angeles. A French animated film returning to the repression of Algerian demonstrators by the police in Paris in 1961 was rewarded there.
Very followed in Hollywood, the Oscars Students, who were held yesterday in Los Angeles, rewarded a French animated film which looks back on a tragic event in the history of France. Entitled “The Tears of the Seine”, this short film dissects the bloody police repression of the demonstration of Algerians on October 17, 1961, under the authority of the prefect Maurice Papon. He won a bronze medal yesterday at the ceremony.
For the record, on October 17, 1961, some 30,000 Algerians demonstrated peacefully in Paris against the curfew imposed on them, at the call of the National Liberation Front (FLN) which demanded the independence of Algeria.
During the ceremony, the three students of the Pôle 3D school in Roubaix, Yanis Belaid, Eliott Benard and Nicolas Mayeur, behind this short film, explained that they “wanted to make this film to shed light on an event far too little known in France, whereas it is part of our history”. “We would be happy if it makes people want to discover more, and show our way of seeing the future without forgetting what happened,” they added when receiving their prize.
Last year, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of this tragic event, the President of the Republic had described it as “crimes (…) inexcusable for the Republic”, recognizing for the first time that “nearly 12,000 Algerians were arrested and transferred to sorting centers. In addition to numerous injuries, several dozen were killed, their bodies thrown into the Seine.
The official toll has so far only counted three victims. Their number is estimated by historians to be at least several dozen or even several hundred.
Former laureates who have become essential today
In addition to “Tears of the Seine”, several other films have won awards. The gold medals were awarded to “Almost Home” in the narrative category, “Against Reality” for the experimental component and “Found”, in competition for the best documentary. Films, which in turn, have dealt with various subjects such as space travel, lucid dreaming and the abduction of a child. On a lighter note, “An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It” won first prize in the animation.
These young directors succeed former laureates who are well known today, such as Spike Lee, Robert ZemeckisPete Docter (“Monstres & Cie” and “Up there”) or even Cary Fukunaga (“Dying can wait”).
More than 1,700 applications had been sent this year, while the ceremony was held again, for the first time since 2019, physically, reported for its part Variety.
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