I made Afrique 50 when I was twenty. My only aim was to show the truth about black farmworkers’ daily life in French West Africa. I simply filmed what I saw. Some people tried to stop me from filming. The settlers in particular violently opposed me. This film, which the Cinémathèque française paid a flattering tribute to a few years ago, caused me big problems at the time. In 1972 Avoir vingt ans dans les Aurès received the International Critics’ prize at the Cannes Festival. Despite this recognition, the film had to wait twelve years before being broadcast on French television. Some people saw it as an absurd accusation against the assumed advantages of the French presence in the colonies. However, these films continue to be distributed and referenced, something that feeds the resentment of those nostalgic for colonialism. […] These people, with rightwing connections and links to the Front National, are still trying to get revenge, disturbing the events which I take part in. […] Some groups categorically refuse to clearly think about the colonial past. But the young generation has to know what was done in the colonies, in France’s name. I hope that my films can continue to contribute towards this goal.

Rosa Moussaoui, René Vautier: “Les at- tardés du colonialisme poursuivent en- core de leur vindicte”, “l’Humanité”, May 4, 2009

Afrique 50 is a film against barbarity, colonialism, and exploitation. Afrique 50 bears witness, as well as accuses. Its fragile images, which have survived destruction by police and censors, have the force of conviction and the unique and universal quality of great films. Afrique 50 shames most documentary films shot in Africa during that period: known lies, tacit consent. At great risk to his own life, René Vautier shoots Afrique 50 under conditions that were both epic and tragic, and which he evokes in his memoirs (Caméra citoyenne, Éditions Apogée, 1998) – Afrique 50, which begins as an banal documentary, sets itself up as plea against the ravages and atrocities perpetuated by the French colonies and army in the name of France. René Vautier’s voice resonates on the soundtrack. When the actor set to say the written text backs down under pressure at the last minute, René Vautier grabs the recording studio microphone in anger and improvises directly over the images.

Christian Lebrat, L’Icône, in René Vautier, Afrique 50, Éditions Paris Expérimental, Paris 2001