France film about 1961 massacre against Algerian protesters receives award

“Here we drown Algerians” sign on Saint-Michel Bridge in Paris in 1961. Dozens of bodies were later pulled from the River Seine [Wikipedia]

The Seine’s Tears, an animated short film, has received attention in France and globally, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The film was awarded a bronze medal on Thursday at the Student Oscars in Los Angeles.

It sheds light on the bloody police crackdown on the demonstration by Algerians in Paris on 17 October, 1961, in which hundreds of people were killed on the directives of Maurice Papon, then-in charge of the Paris police.

Stills from the animated movie Les larmes de la Seine, ‘Seine’s Tears’ [@FestivalScope/Twitter]

“We wanted to make this movie to shed light on an event that is far too little known in France, even though it is part of our history,” Directors Yanis Belaid, Eliott Benard and Nicolas Mayeur said during the award ceremony.

They added: “We’d love it if it encouraged people to learn more about it and show our way of seeing the future without forgetting what happened.”

The bloody crackdown on the demonstrations went down in history as the “Paris Massacre”. Paris police used extreme brutality against the unauthorised but peaceful demonstration.

Estimates suggest that at least 200 Algerians were killed. The victims were shot or beaten to death. According to witnesses, they were also thrown into the Seine River, where they died.

Remembering the massacre of Algerians in Paris

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