Filmic traces of the Movement of Arab Workers Collectives within Collectives
Second session of the film programme Collectives within Collectives with the documentary essay of Daniel Julien Mohamed, La Grève des ouvriers de Margoline and Jusqu'au bout films by the Collectif Cinélutte and Des travailleurs émigrés racontent by the Collectif Vidéo 00. With the participation of Bouchra Khalili and Richard Copans, member of the Collectif Cinélutte.
Programme
Introduction by Bouchra Khalili and Richard Copans, a member of Collectif Cinélutte
Screenings:
Mohamed. Daniel Julien, 1973, 15’, digital format, b/w, France. Original version with Spanish subtitles
Directed by Daniel Julien, this documentary essay recounts the history of the murder of an Algerian worker at a police station in Versailles.
La Grève des ouvriers de Margoline. Collectif Cinélutte, 1974, 40’, digital format, b/w, France. Original version with Spanish subtitles
On 21 June 1973, a meeting of the far-right movement Ordre Nouveau took place at the Salle de la Mutualité, in Paris, under the slogan 'Halte à l’immigration sauvage' (Stop uncontrolled immigration). The demonstrators claimed to be expressing out loud what many people thought. Clashing with it, a counter-demonstration by extreme-left militants was harshly repressed by the police. The event was seen as proof of State racism and was the starting point for La Grève des ouvriers de Margoline. Produced by CFD, this documentary was one of the first to examine the situation of undocumented migrant workers in France and to give them a voice.Jusqu'au bout. Collectif Cinélutte, 1973, 40’, digital format, b/w, France. Original version with Spanish subtitles
The subject of immigration was first approached in the films of May ’68 and gradually acquired greater relevance in later militant films, especially after the publication of the Marcellin-Fontanet leaflet on 23 February 1972 against ‘the regularisation of any foreigner entering the country without a work permit and proof of accommodation’. In 1973, in the church of Ménilmontant, 56 Algerian workers went on hunger strike, the first of its kind in France, demanding a work permit. Cinélutte filmed their struggle.
Des travailleurs émigrés racontent. Collectif Vidéo 00, 1974, 35’, digital format, b/w, France. Original version with Spanish subtitles
This practically unknown film on the Movement of Arab Workers is part of the documentary fonds of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, which is currently in the process of restoring it and whose latest version has been loaned to MACBA.
Q&A with Bouchra Khalili and Richard Copans
Introduction and Q&A in French with simultaneous translation. If you have any question, feel free to contact us on 93 481 33 68 or by email at macba [at] macba [dot] cat.
