| Free Men | |
|---|---|
 US-Canadian film poster | |
| French | Les hommes libres |
| Directed by | Ismaël Ferroukhi |
| Screenplay by | Ismaël Ferroukhi Alain-Michel Blanc (fr) |
| Produced by | Fabienne Vonier (fr) |
| Starring | Tahar Rahim Michael Lonsdale Mahmoud Shalaby (fr) |
| Cinematography | Jérôme Alméras |
| Edited by | Annette Dutertre (fr) |
| Music by | Armand Amar |
Production company | Pyramide Productions |
| Distributed by | Pyramide Distribution(France) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Box office | USD 1.2 million worldwide[2] |
Free Men (French:Les Hommes libres) is a 2011 Frenchwar drama film written and directed byIsmaël Ferroukhi, which recounts the largely untold story about the role that Algerian and other Muslims from theMaghreb in Paris played in theFrench Resistance and as rescuers of Jews duringthe German occupation (1940–1944).
It features two historic figures:Si Kaddour Benghabrit, rector of theGrand Mosque of Paris, andSalim Halali, anAlgerian Jewish singer. The film starsTahar Rahim playing a fictional young Algerian andMichael Lonsdale as the rector.
In occupied Paris, the young unemployed Algerian, Younes Ben Daoud, makes a living on theblack market. He is arrested by the police, and to avoid prison he agrees to spy on theParis Mosque. The police suspect that the mosque leadership, including its rectorSi Kaddour Benghabrit, is helping resistance fighters and protecting North African Jews by giving them Muslim birth certificates.
While at the mosque, Younes meets the Algerian singerSalim Halali. They become close friends. When Younes learns that Salim is Jewish and sees the work that the people of the mosque are doing, he stops collaborating with the police. The mosque has extended its hospitality to shelter European Jews seeking refuge in Paris and at risk during roundups by the Nazis. He becomes involved with Algerians who are part of the French Resistance, and who are also preparing for their own fight for independence from French colonialism after the war. Gradually he becomes transformed from being a politically ignorant immigrant into a fully fledged resistance fighter.
The film premiered at the2011 Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2011, and was released in France and Belgium on 28 September 2011. The film saw a limited (4 screens) US release on 16 March 2012, and a wider (14 screens) UK release on 25 May 2012.[1][2]
Although the singer Selim (Simon) Halali was indeed saved through the issuance of "Muslim" papers, there is no record to support the fact that there was a resistance network within the mosque. Historians Michel Renard and Daniel Lefeuvre also noted in the film several historical approximations, such as the judicial status of Algerians during the colonial era.[3]
The performance of Rahim, who starred inA Prophet (2009), was praised by critics in this film.
In February 2013, 28 film critics gave the film an average rating of 75% on Rotten Tomatoes.[4]
The film won theRadio-Canada Audience Award at the 2012 edition of theCinéfranco film festival.
