Fanon (2025) Movie Script
A FILM WRITTEN BY PHILIPPE BERNARD
AND JEAN-CLAUDE BARNY
Each generation must,
amid relative uncertainty,
discover its mission,
fulfill it, or betray it,
and that means
both me and you.
BLIDA-JOINVILLE HOSPITAL
ALGERIA, 1953
You go to the entrance.
Good morning, madam.
When does your husband arrive?
Dr. Fanon.
Dr. Fanon.
And you are?
Emilio, the guard.
No, thanks.
I'll be fine.
Good morning, gentlemen.
Dr. Fanon, your new department head.
Are there activities?
What do you mean, activities?
They can't even dress themselves.
We already have to clean them
morning and night.
We ration their water.
In this heat?
So they don't throw their piss at us.
The others are over there.
Are they allowed out?
Just a short walk.
Morning, before lunch and evening.
Only when it's a bit cooler.
Only if they've behaved well.
They're scared to death.
They've learned to respect us.
Untie them.
The director will never agree.
Call your colleagues.
Do as I say.
Do it yourself.
Thank you.
So, how was your day?
My staff won't follow me,
but I won't accept
what they're forcing on me.
I'm going to shake things up.
- Good evening. Auguste Darmain.
- Good evening.
Dr. Frantz Fanon?
That's right, Director.
Tell me, freeing the patients,
is that your idea?
I don't chain the patients.
It's for their own safety.
You think you'll change the nature
of North Africans?
In my ward, they'll get the same
treatment as European patients.
The same rights.
You don't know them,
they're dangerous.
North Africans are more violent,
more primitive,
no prefrontal lobe.
Porot, who founded this hospital,
knows what he's talking about.
They're men like you and me.
Did you choose Algeria
for your first posting?
You think I'd be more legitimate
treating my fellow West Indians?
I'm warning you, Fanon,
at the slightest incident,
I'll hold you responsible.
Good thing, Mr. Darmain,
I don't run away
from my responsibilities.
New friend?
He'd never dare lecture
one of his colleagues.
Never.
We don't care what he thinks of you.
Aren't you the one asking
to be judged on results?
In my ward, patients can come and go,
you can control entries and exits.
The keys.
Hello, Mr. Ben Abdellah.
How are you today?
You understand why I need you?
What's he saying?
He wants to see his family, doctor.
His family?
According to his file,
he doesn't have any.
Maybe it's his way
of talking about his isolation.
He wants to know where you're from.
I was born in Martinique,
a small island near America,
the oldest French colony.
My grandparents had chains
on their feet, slaves.
They came from Africa too.
What an incredible story.
God bless you.
Khal, nobody asked you.
We'll listen to what you have to say.
You're not like the others.
I have a question, Doctor.
Isn't it risky letting
them walk around?
Walking is an essential need,
it helps the brain function.
And they're not prisoners,
but men like you and me.
You'll learn to live with them
and they with you.
There.
Those who want to work with me,
come to my office.
So, Fanon,
these are your fine theories?
They're not worth much
in the face of reality.
We won't change a century
of domination in a few months.
I don't claim that.
Why do you persist?
Admit you're wrong.
Let me prove otherwise.
You can't be right
and everyone else wrong.
They don't even respect the rules.
Just yesterday
they were glaring at each other.
And now they're playing together.
- Come on, this way.
- This way, this way.
Actually, I'll submit a request
for a football field
in the next budget.
You're not against it?
Don't try to wriggle out of this.
This is serious, Director.
Very serious.
Physical activity socializes
and regulates them.
You're on your own, Fanon.
Yeah.
Hey.
Doctor?
Mr. Fanon.
Be brief, I don't have time.
My name is Jacques Azoulay,
I'm an intern,
I want to join your team.
I want to work with you.
What do they say about me
at Algiers University?
That you're breaking through
a completely outdated
colonial psychiatry.
And no one wants to work with you,
except the Algerians.
So you're coming to my rescue.
No.
Is it true you worked with
Tosquelles at Saint-Alban?
He taught me everything I know.
You want to become a psychiatrist?
I wanted to study philosophy
at first,
but my parents think
it's not a real job.
But being a doctor, yes.
What do your parents do for a living?
They're tailors.
Interesting.
In Algiers?
Yes.
Give me their address.
Agreed.
You start tomorrow.
Very well.
Colonized people are portrayed
as suffering arrested development,
impervious to reason,
incapable of managing
their own affairs,
requiring permanent supervision.
The history of colonized peoples
is transformed
into meaningless agitation,
and as a result, it seems
as if for these peoples,
humanity began with the arrival
of these valiant colonists.
What are you doing?
These are notes
on the colonial situation.
Here, I perceive it differently
than in the West Indies.
Life in Algeria
makes it appear different to me.
It's late.
Come to bed.
Coming.
I'd like to have a word with him.
Doctor?
I found him this morning
when I arrived.
He says it's not his fault.
It's not his fault.
Behavioral disorder.
Verbal stereotyping.
He must have suffered violent trauma.
Do we know who brought him in?
Put him under observation.
No signs of psychosis
or schizophrenia but
I'm leaning toward recent trauma.
Maybe temporary.
He may have been involved
in an attack.
That's the authorities' vocabulary.
The Germans also
called them terrorists.
We called them resistance fighters.
That's true.
If only we were aware
that we're occupying Algeria.
But no.
For us, it's France.
Making the settler realize
that he, too, is alienated -
and that one cannot be healed
without the other -
that's the challenge.
Keep an eye on him.
I'll let you finish
analyzing this file,
get back to me later.
Very well, Doctor.
Do you know Armstrong?
"Let my people go".
A song of liberation.
Jazz,
a music of revolt from North America.
You must have an opinion
on what's happening.
The attacks against the French army.
Do you think the Algerian people
will rise up?
I don't do politics, Mrs. Fanon,
but it's normal to rebel
when you're oppressed.
That's what your husband says.
He's been unleashed for a long time.
And we're running to keep up.
Do you know ra music?
No.
I can lend you some records.
With pleasure.
My wife Josie. Jacques Azoulay.
Hello, madam.
Hello. Nice to meet you.
Welcome, Mr. Azoulay.
No, Jacques. Call me Jacques.
You can say she's pretty,
I don't mind.
Thank you for the lovely meal.
You're welcome, it was my pleasure.
There's so much choice
at Blida market.
Don't you have a maid?
Emilio already looks after us.
Go back to the buffet,
I have something to show you.
Help yourself.
There are fritters, skewers.
And you absolutely must try this.
It's a Caribbean specialty.
Back home, we have lots of crabs.
The touloulou, the mantou
and the terrible sand fiddler.
Tradition has it that at Easter,
children hunt them.
An initiation rite.
I was content with my bar mitzvah.
Excuse me.
Yes, of course.
Go ahead, gentlemen, eat.
Excuse me.
Where's the bathroom, please?
REFLECTIONS ON THE JEWISH QUESTION
The first thing I look at
in someone's home
is their library.
Go ahead.
Black Skin, White Masks.
That's what happens
to a rejected thesis.
Why?
Too unconventional.
I had to write a second one
to convince them
I could fall in line.
But here, I'm a psychiatrist,
not a writer.
Return to My Native Land
by Aim Csaire.
My literature teacher
at Schlcher High School.
He opened the way for me,
even if I don't entirely
share his choices.
Reflections on the Jewish question.
Jean-Paul Sartre.
That's all Sartre.
The first time I felt Jewish
was in 1940,
when Vichy banned us from school.
It's the other's gaze that makes
the Jew, the Black, the madman.
There you are, both of you.
I was wondering where you'd gone.
A typical case,
ex-philosopher turned psychiatrist.
Don't be too long,
our guests have to leave.
Tosquelles' essential idea
is that psychiatrists must change
how they view patients.
Treat them as human beings,
listen to them, then integrate them
into a community.
How do you want to change things
in Algeria?
Here, like anywhere else.
Come on, our Algerian friends
have a curfew to comply with.
Doctor?
Quick, the soldiers.
Ahmed.
Stop.
What right do you have to take him?
This patient is my responsibility.
So you're the defender of the Arabs?
I hear you let them play football.
Dr Fanon, head of department.
We need to question
him, counter-terrorism.
- I doubt he can tell you anything.
- That's for me to decide.
Without authorization,
you don't enter my ward.
Right.
Dr Fanon.
Hocine.
Hocine.
I assume you know this sergeant.
I'm listening.
Hocine.
I was asked to find a place
to hide our wounded,
and Blida Hospital is a solution.
It's because they're being treated
by you that I stayed, doctor.
You know I hate being presented
with a fait accompli.
Who is this "they"?
I have to see him tomorrow.
Good timing, I need some fresh air,
it's stifling in here.
You must be careful, Doctor.
Very careful.
And your wife, isn't that risky?
She's no different from me,
she wants to see your country.
We can't blame a young couple
for spending a day in the mountains.
Be careful, if you defend Algerians,
they'll build a case against you.
How did they know he was in my ward?
Anyone at the hospital
could have sold him out.
The director, I think
he's treating Sergeant Rolland.
Sergeant, at his age?
He's been in the army
a long time, no?
He's known
for his intense interrogations.
In your jargon,
you'd call him a sociopath,
a loudmouth, impulsive,
with a total lack of empathy.
And ruthless if you resist him.
One thing's certain,
avoid him at all costs.
He probably has psychopathic traits,
but let's not jump to conclusions.
I see you're working
on your psychiatric semiology,
that's good.
That's him.
This is Ramdane.
Welcome.
I'm not presumptuous enough to think
the Algerian revolution needs me,
but if I can be useful...
Your reputation has spread
beyond the hospital walls.
You can't live here as you please.
You have no right to plow your land.
You're on your land,
but you can't live there
as you see fit.
You can't visit your families.
You have no right to farm your land.
Yes.
They're starving us.
A settler's vote
is worth seven of ours.
And you, and you, and you...
you're worth seven times less
than a Frenchman.
That's how they control our future.
They exploit us
to seize all our wealth.
That's why they're here.
For the enrichment of France.
Tell me, you?
Are they better than you?
No.
Tell me, are their children
better than yours?
No.
They send your children to school
to teach them
about France's greatness.
Our history doesn't exist.
There's nothing about our traditions.
Fear.
Fear.
Fear won't get us anywhere.
If we rise up,
their weapons can't stop us.
We must decide for ourselves
what's good for us.
This is our Algeria.
It belongs to us.
Long live Algeria!
There was this young girl,
I felt such hostility in her eyes.
If she could have,
she'd have put me on that boat.
She's not angry with you, ma'am,
it's the settlers and their contempt.
Back home in Martinique,
we were taught to be ashamed
of being Black, so much so
that we look at
each other with mistrust,
unable to act together.
But here, it's different.
Doctor, watch out.
You okay?
You okay?
Did you do this?
Good evening, gentlemen.
Your animal must have escaped and...
Hey, shut up.
So it's my fault
if my animal is dead,
lying on the road.
Who gave you this car?
Don't see many blacks
driving around here.
That's my husband.
Dr. Fanon.
I'm a psychiatrist at Blida Hospital.
Listen, I'll compensate you.
- How much do you want?
- 40,000 francs.
40,000 francs?
40,000 francs.
I don't have it on me,
I can write you an IOU,
and pay you tomorrow if you want.
Blacks aren't trustworthy people.
So, you know what we're gonna do?
You're gonna leave me your car,
and walk back.
That's way, way too much
for your sheep.
You know that full well.
Aren't you forgetting something?
Frantz?
It wasn't them who neutralized me
with their weapons,
I thought of you.
I don't want anything
to happen to this kid.
We'll hold on, Frantz.
What's happening here is unbearable.
That girl from the village is right.
You complained about those
West Indians who want to
stay French despite the humiliation.
There's finally a chance
for change here,
we can't run away.
Remember you told me
about Robert's time,
when they tried to starve
the people in Martinique?
People replanted vegetables
to avoid starving.
You're right.
That's the way forward.
In the colonies,
the colonized only speaks
to policemen or soldiers.
The colonized town or native town,
the medina, is a disreputable place,
full of disreputable people.
The colonial world
is a world cut in two.
The borders
are marked by barracks
and police stations.
Wait. Slower.
Sorry.
You understand why this machine
drives me crazy?
The colonized person
looks at the settler's town
with lust,
with a look of envy,
dreams of possession,
sitting at the settler's table,
sleeping in the settler's bed,
with his wife if possible.
The colonized is envious,
and the settler knows it,
noting bitterly, but always on guard,
that they want to take our place.
TO SIT AT THE COLONIST'S TABLE,
SLEEP IN THE COLONIST'S BED,
WITH HIS WIFE IF POSSIBLE
Good morning, Doctor.
Remember to get more beds
for the Algerian ward.
We need to order seeds
for the Creole garden.
We'll plant our vegetables ourselves,
with the patients.
Josie's idea.
Next time we go to the village,
maybe we'll have something
to offer them.
Why not a caf?
For the patients?
It would save you drinking
coffee with the others...
with the other idiots.
Moorish caf, another colonial term.
How do you say it in Arabic?
But the director...
He does all he can to make our lives
difficult,
let's stop going through him.
You okay?
Good morning, sir.
How are you?
Ma'am.
She's Ahmed's mother.
We don't know where your son is,
Mrs. Messaoui.
She says it's not possible,
he's a good boy, a kind boy.
What did they do to him?
What should I tell him?
Tell him I've filed
several official requests
to get my patient back,
and I won't give up.
I won't let them go.
Hello. Good morning, sir. Dr. Fanon.
I'm calling for news
about my patient,
Ahmed Messaoui.
Yes.
He was taken by a Sergeant Rolland.
Yes, he lives in Algiers.
1932, yes.
Very well. Sir,
I'll let you call me back.
Yes, I await your call,
sir. Thank you.
I await your proposals
so your culture
can break free
from the one they imposed on you,
so you can feel at home.
Gentlemen...
Salah.
Animals don't let themselves
be pushed around.
I am a lion, I am a lion!
It's okay.
I have a comment, Doctor.
We have no place to pray.
We need a room.
Agreed.
No problem.
Take charge,
and I'll handle the permits.
Here, there's enough space
for a prayer room, even a mosque.
But it's up to you to do it.
We could change the decor,
for example,
add new colors,
make it cheerful, so we feel good.
We could do craft workshops,
fix bikes, start a jazz club.
Ahmed, we could dance.
You like dancing. Look.
We could dance.
Start a film club, screen movies.
No?
I'm talking about
doing things together,
like football, for example,
manual activities.
I suggested a newspaper,
and I'm waiting for your suggestions.
Doctor, God bless you.
When do I get out?
My family is waiting for me.
My mother's about to come get me.
God bless you, doctor.
When will I get out?
Aren't you happy with us?
We're like one big family,
everything's fine.
Ben Abdellah, what are you saying?
Do you hear what he's saying?
He's making it up.
No, no, stop.
Your parents died long ago.
You insult my parents, son of a dog!
The meeting is over! It's over!
Blowing up the colonial world
is now an image of action
that is very clear,
very understandable,
and can be taken up
by each individual
constituting the colonized people.
To destroy the colonial world
is nothing more or less
than abolishing a zone,
burying it deep underground
or expelling it from the territory.
Frantz, now.
Come on. Come on.
Well?
Congratulations, it's a boy.
- Can I see him?
- Wait here, I'll wash him.
MATERNITY WARD
It's a boy. It's a boy. It's a boy.
Congratulations.
Sorry to disturb you, Doctor.
What's happening?
We have an emergency.
Let's go.
What will you call him?
Olivier.
Son of Frantz, grandson of?
Meaning?
He was born on Algerian soil,
here we say...
We can go back
several generations that way.
Nobody saw you?
What happened to him?
Shot while escaping, doctor.
What do you mean,
shot while escaping?
They make the prisoner think
he's going to get wood,
let him walk away and shoot him down.
Like it was an escape.
That way, they're covered
by the hierarchy.
Go get Azoulay.
Tell him to prep the operating room.
I got him. I got him.
There.
Pacification.
Is he up to date on tetanus?
I don't know.
We'll give him one,
but he leaves tomorrow.
No problem, Doctor. I'll handle it.
Hold him.
I'll sign the admission form.
Put whatever name you want.
If Darmain does an inspection,
we're covered legally.
It'll be okay. It's okay.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
You look like you've been
doing this all your life.
I had a crash course.
1948, in Israel.
Breathe.
Why didn't you stay in Israel?
Because of my parents.
Yours?
I live in the present.
Just because I left them
doesn't mean they're not still in me.
I have to go, Josie needs me.
The Chra mountains
are full of rebels,
if they all come for treatment,
it'll be complicated.
We'll manage
or I won't be able to face myself.
Before you leave,
clean everything up.
Don't leave anything
lying around. Nothing.
Agreed.
Good luck. You'll be fine.
Thank you, Doctor.
Dear Doctor, come to my arms.
Congratulations, Doctor.
Hello.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you all.
Thank you very much.
It's tradition, doctor.
When a child is born, we eat tamina.
Plus, this is the best,
my wife made it.
Here, doctor.
Well, thank you for everything.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
A first child calls for celebration.
After the war, I had a daughter,
Mireille.
She's in France with her mother.
I've never met her.
Did you see that, Doctor? Look.
This time, they're taking part.
Behind their smiles,
there's violence.
Let's not forget that.
Welcome to Porot Hospital,
the old world of psychiatry.
Your coat.
- Thanks.
- What's that?
My lunch.
Okay.
Write down everything he says.
Okay?
- Can I speak?
- Yes, everyone can speak.
But if you say something dumb,
he'll catch you out.
I learned that the hard way.
Sometimes he's hard to follow,
but what counts is progress.
His mantra is: figure it out.
How did you end up here?
Dr. Fanon asked me to join you.
You must be smart, then.
Yes. Yes, I'm brilliant.
Quite brilliant, actually.
He's a patient too.
It's incredible.
What about the rest of the hospital?
The rest of the hospital
tolerates us.
Well, not really.
Actually, they really hate us.
Where are you from?
Algiers.
Me too.
From a Jewish family.
- Yeah, me too.
- Pretty conservative.
No, it was fine.
That's good.
Go ahead.
Thank you, thank you, thank you...
Thank you all. Thank you all.
And thank you to Dr Azoulay
for the invitation.
A society that drives its members
to desperate solutions,
to violence, is not viable.
It's a society that must be replaced.
The duty of the citizen,
yours, mine, is to speak out.
The colonized people are presented as
having arrested development,
incapable of managing their
own affairs, without history.
The colonizer's language,
when speaking of the colonized,
is a zoological language.
They allude to stench,
to swarming, to crawling,
to gesticulations.
To find the right word, the colonizer
constantly refers to the bestiary.
The first thing
the native learns to do
is to stay in his place.
That's why the native's dreams
are muscular dreams,
dreams of action, aggressive dreams.
I dream I jump, swim, run, climb.
I dream I burst out laughing,
that I cross the river in one stride,
that I'm being chased
by a pack of cars
that never catch me.
With his aggression built up
in his muscles,
the colonized will first
turn against his own.
- Dirty nigger!
- Dirty nigger!
Algeria is French!
Algeria is French!
Algeria is French!
Sit down.
Sit down.
Traitor!
You're going to sit down
and listen to what he has to say.
Sit down.
Sit down!
FEAR
It's true. It's true.
We all want the same thing.
But you put religion
above everything,
you drink alcohol
and want proletarian revolution.
You, the Kabyle,
want your language respected.
The people should decide,
not colonels who only want power.
They can't decide everything
from Tunis.
You're the leaders.
You're the leaders.
Ramdane, what do you propose?
Clean elections,
democratic ones.
I passed a motion
to stop executions and torture.
Let's not stoop to doing
within our own ranks
what we criticize the French
for doing.
Patrol.
Where's Ramdane?
Let them in.
Come on, come on, come on.
Faced with the colonial arrangement,
the colonized person lives
in permanent tension.
The colonist's world is a hostile one
that he rejects,
yet at the same time, it's enviable.
The colonized always dreams
of taking the colonist's place.
The colonized is always on edge,
struggling to read
the colonial world's many signs,
never knowing
if he's crossed the line.
In the world arranged
by the colonialist,
the colonized is
always presumed guilty.
Yet, deep within himself,
the colonized recognizes
no authority.
He is dominated,
but not domesticated.
In his muscles,
the colonized is always waiting,
it wouldn't be right
to say he is anxious,
that he is terrorized,
in fact, he is always ready
to abandon his role as prey
to take on that of hunter.
It is not possible to enslave men
without logically making
them inferior in every way,
and racism is only the emotional,
affective explanation,
sometimes the intellectual one
as well, of this inferiorization.
In fact,
racism follows a flawless logic.
A country that lives,
draws its substance
from exploiting different peoples,
makes its peoples inferior.
Racism is not a constant
of the human mind,
it is a disposition inscribed
in a determined system.
Is he sleeping?
Yes.
Sometimes I think he deserves
a normal childhood.
Away from all this.
Leaving would prove them right.
Go ahead, come in.
Come in.
- Good evening.
- Good evening.
Come on, quickly.
Good evening.
Will you eat with us?
Thank you, ma'am.
Are you staying?
I'd rather go home.
Thank you, Mrs. Fanon.
I'll alert our men in Tunis.
Agreed.
I heard what happened at the village.
Thanks for the shirt.
You're welcome.
What about your colleagues?
Don't worry, they don't visit me.
It all started in 1945, in Stif.
As soon as we demanded
freedom, citizenship,
they opened fire.
I was secretary
of the Chteaudun commune,
a good little civil servant,
nice and quiet.
When I left my parents in 1943
to go fight,
it was to defend freedom,
the Republic.
I believed in de Gaulle.
Then I realized,
just before the victory parade,
when the sergeant
ordered me
to hand over my uniform
to a young resistance fighter,
because he was white.
In Martinique, we've been
French citizens since 1848,
we were never recognized
as war veterans.
I fought for the peasants of Creuse,
but I'll always be
worth less than him.
But my case is nothing.
We need people like you
to carry our message.
Would you write for El Moujahid,
our newspaper?
With pleasure.
You're one of us now.
And our fight won't stop
after the French leave,
a different kind of war awaits us.
After Algerian independence,
comes the struggle for power
or for democracy.
Every since I was born,
I've seen my father die,
I've seen my brothers leave
and children cry.
My mother suffered so much
she's in her grave
and laughed at bombs
and laughed at worms.
That's Boris Vian.
Do you know where my cigarettes are, darling?
On the table.
I've never seen him like this.
He rarely opens up.
See you soon.
Thank you very much.
- Come in.
- Captain.
Sergeant Rolland.
Did he talk?
How could you miss Ramdane?
Our intel was solid.
This city,
it's my city.
Sergeant,
I have a better idea.
We'll do things differently.
The information
is in the medical file.
Fanon,
I was telling Captain Ferrre
that you're the most original
psychiatrist in the hospital,
a special case.
Sergeant Rolland had
a violent episode with his wife,
I'm sure you can do something.
You've treated soldiers
with severe depression before.
Why don't you take him on?
If I'm entrusting him to you,
it's because I believe
in your methods.
Can we talk?
You don't become a threat
to your wife or son
without suffering trauma
or shock, Captain.
You need to tell me
what's happening, Doctor.
I'm not in his head.
No, but you give him orders,
so you know if he's suffered
or committed inhuman acts.
He won't say anything.
Captain.
In my ward, my patients are free.
Hello, Sergeant.
Hello.
Could I have a normal doctor?
As you wish.
My door remains open.
Where are the barracks?
They say this ward is
a rebel hideout. Are you aware?
People say many things.
I'm just doing my job.
I follow orders too.
They say it's eating at me,
I take it too much to heart.
Hey, hey.
You know what I do to terrorists,
to France-haters?
Do the doors stay open here?
Is this a house of drafts?
You're not gonna follow me
like a lapdog?
Get to work. Get lost.
BLOWING UP THE COLONIAL WORLD IS NOW
A VERY CLEAR PICTURE OF ACTION
How are you, my brother Hocine?
God bless you.
We call her sweet potato.
She grew up among the others.
Where are the wounded?
There.
They took refuge here
after the attacks.
Salim, your father was a great man.
May God keep him.
How can you work with a Frenchman?
She needs treatment too.
Your diagnosis?
How do you survive a massacre?
I know what you're going to tell me,
revolt.
Is there any other therapy?
Military roadblock.
Operation in progress.
We'll have to sleep here tonight.
Don't you ever sleep, Doctor?
I'm afraid I'll forget.
Remind me what this music is called.
It's chabi.
"Cha" means the people.
What do you call
women who whisper
in the ears of the sick?
Healers?
In Martinique,
we call them frotteuses.
They rub your body with herbs
and drive away illness.
Could you introduce me to one?
The one who told Josie
she was pregnant.
Hello, Doctor.
It's for a court assessment.
Sit down.
Lamine?
Lamine?
What happened?
Did you hear what happened
at the village?
My father, they shot him down.
God bless him.
The French swore to kill us all,
one after the other.
Has a single Frenchman been arrested
for all these murdered Algerians?
None of them were tried.
I wanted to go up to the mountains,
but I'm too small.
So my friend and I decided to act.
But you're a child,
and these are adult matters.
But they kill children too.
Did you know him?
He was a friend,
we played football together.
Had he done something to you?
No.
He was a true friend.
That's it. Do what you want.
I'll send you my report.
Recruiting children,
what a bunch of savages.
I won't let you go.
How are you?
Are you sleeping better?
The nurses told me
your sleep was very restless.
Want to talk about it?
Good.
When do I go back to the field?
It will come. For now,
you're most useful to me there.
What do you think of this Fanon?
A good doctor.
As a man.
He's somebody,
but he's against us.
This girl will only talk to you.
I have nothing to hide from my wife.
Very well. Come with me.
When you get to the bar,
a man will search you.
Your heart will beat very fast.
What will you think?
They're pigs,
they have no right to search me.
No.
Think of something
that makes you smile.
A childhood memory.
Do you hate the French?
Those who torture and kill,
yes.
Why did you join the cause?
My father.
If the soldiers provoke you,
what do you do?
Good morning, miss.
What do you do for a living?
What do you do for a living?
I'm studying.
- Nursing studies.
- Where are you going?
To the hospital?
That's very good.
Aren't you afraid
of the consequences?
Are you ready to die?
Give this to Ramdane.
We need to get him out.
He'll last longer.
Very well.
He refuses to talk to me.
You know the army, Fanon,
they're taught
to keep their mouths shut.
Don't tell me you're giving up,
that's not like you.
It is men like him -
tormented by the Western discourse
of superiority -
that give my work its full meaning.
Meaning what?
The alienated.
Stop with your theories,
you're confusing medicine
with revolution.
What treatment did you prescribe?
Chlorpromazine,
increasingly higher doses
to try to regulate his
mood swings and sleep.
Not being involved in all this.
They destroyed him.
I'll change the medication.
My diagnosis will be more precise
when I know him better.
A hypnosis session
might be beneficial.
SUMMONS
EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE
I learned more with you
- than with...
- Stop whining.
You don't need me anymore.
Psychiatry has gained a good fighter.
Where will you do your service?
At Maillot,
at Algiers military hospital.
You can imagine how eager I am
to serve the French army.
I thought about deserting,
but I can't do that to my parents.
I understand.
Well...
Go ahead.
Thank you.
Doctor?
Sorry.
Do we have any penicillin left?
No, we're out of stock.
I'll arrange with a colleague
to get some.
Thanks.
Yes. Come on, let's go up.
Don't cry, sweetheart.
Are we going with Mommy?
Come on.
Wait.
What are you doing here?
Did you know about the caf?
Who did this?
I'm sure you know.
Do you know how many Europeans
have died?
How many Algerians have died
since colonization began?
Killing is my job.
I thought yours was saving lives.
You have no right
to enter my home. Get out.
Didn't you tell me
"when I feel like talking"?
Here, I'm not a doctor,
I'm a husband and father, like you.
Even if I disagree with you,
you're not my enemy.
You're no better than me.
If you want to talk,
it's tomorrow in my office.
Now get out of my house.
Get out of my house.
Easy there, boy.
Right now, I'm allergic to people.
No one would blame me
for putting a bullet in your head.
Very well.
Let's not get worked up.
See you tomorrow.
I have nothing to hide from my wife.
Did you sleep badly, Doctor?
Too much work.
Are you feeling better?
No point talking, my life is ruined.
I've always served my country,
never refused a mission.
The military are always
the last ramparts.
I have nothing more to say.
What you're doing to them,
it's destroying you from within.
If you agree to talk about it,
you might feel better.
I'm scared.
Classified, doctor.
He took longer to fall asleep.
He must sense
the tension we're feeling.
Yes, even children do.
I'm scared for Olivier too.
If we leave, we're cowards.
But if we stay, we're targets.
Let's continue.
Among the characteristics
of the Algerian people,
as established by colonialism,
we note their appalling criminality.
Before 1954,
magistrates, police officers, lawyers
unanimously agreed
that Algerian criminality
was problematic.
"He's a born criminal," they said.
A theory was developed
and scientific proof provided.
The North African is a born criminal,
his predatory instinct is well-known
and his massive aggression
is visible to the naked eye.
The Algerian's criminality,
the violence
of his murders is not the result
of nervous system organization
or character traits,
as Professor Porot
claims to have proven,
but the direct product
of the colonial situation.
The French are in the plains,
with the army, the tanks.
On the mountain,
there are only Algerians.
Up there, the sky
and its promises of the afterlife.
Down below,
the French with
their concrete promises
of imprisonment,
beatings, executions.
I'll sign your discharge papers.
Keep taking your medication.
Good luck.
Go on, you're next.
Good riddance.
I never understood
why you helped him.
Hocine! Hocine! Hocine!
So inevitably, we hit a wall,
we discover the core
of this self-hatred
that defines conflicts
in segregated societies.
What got into you?
He killed my father.
- Why are you treating him?
- I don't choose my patients.
Ramdane is waiting for you in Tunis.
I'm continuing my work here.
I suppose you let him go.
Doctor?
Doctor?
Go get the files
of those we smuggled out.
Hocine.
Warn Alice.
Are you pleased with yourself?
See where your ideas lead us?
You should be committed.
The files.
Your coats.
It's been an honor working with you.
Those in the villages and cities
will know who to talk to.
Take care of yourself.
...my brother.
You too, Alice.
Where's Hocine?
Arrest me,
I'm the one responsible.
You'll look good in my report,
supporting terrorists.
Go.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Doctor?
Well?
Doctor? Doctor?
Rolland, get them in the truck.
Rolland, get them in the truck.
That's an order!
Rolland.
Sergeant Rolland,
you're under arrest.
Take him away.
Take him away!
"Minister,
"for nearly three years,
"I have devoted myself entirely
to this country
"and the people who live here.
"I spared neither
effort nor enthusiasm.
"But what are enthusiasm
and concern for humanity
"if daily reality is woven from lies,
"cowardice, and contempt for man?
"Madness is one way for
man to lose his freedom.
"And I can say that,
placed at this crossroads,
"it was with horror that I measured
"the extent of alienation
among this country's people.
"Algeria's status?
"Systematic dehumanization.
"For many months,
"my conscience has been torn
by unforgivable debates,
"and their conclusion
is not to despair of man,
"that is to say, of myself.
"For all these reasons,
I have the honor, Minister,
"to ask you to kindly
accept my resignation
"and end my mission in Algeria."
Did you see?
Come.
My friend.
Good to see you.
Likewise.
Hello.
Hello.
Please, come in.
How was the trip
in that old crate from the stone age?
A bit shaken up.
Olivier wasn't even scared.
Look. Want to go explore?
How are you doing otherwise?
It's complicated.
You can continue your work,
you have a position
at Tunis hospital,
and... I've submitted your name
to become ambassador
of the Algerian Republic's
provisional government in Ghana.
I'll keep you posted.
Thank you.
Ambassador.
Go ahead, settle in.
I'll see you when I get back.
The colonels want to see me.
Something's happening.
I'm taking Malek with me.
See you soon.
FARIDA FALEZ
We must not...
We must not... No.
We must not only fight
for our people's freedom...
We must not only fight
for our people's freedom,
we must also,
throughout this struggle,
teach our people and ourselves the...
Frantz?
You okay?
Can you do the ending again? Please.
We must also,
throughout this struggle,
teach this people and ourselves
the dimension of man.
We must retrace the paths of history.
Hello?
Yes, it's me.
Thank you.
It's Ramdane, they got him too.
But why?
By eliminating him, the colonels
risk making him a martyr.
Yes, but he was a democrat,
close to the people.
They even gave me the title
for the article:
Abane Ramdane died
in the field of honor.
Obviously.
And you're going to follow them?
Frantz,
are you going to follow them?
Democratia.
My blood is like this apple,
rotten.
What title did you choose in the end?
The Wretched of the Earth.
I don't think
I'll ever see independence.
THE WRETCHED OF THE EARTH
Come.
I died on December 6, 1961,
from acute leukemia,
one year before
Algeria's independence.
At my request,
I was secretly buried in Algeria,
near the Tunisian border.
My wife, Josie,
continued to live in Algeria.
And 28 years later,
she took her own life.
Laura Haydon
AND JEAN-CLAUDE BARNY
Each generation must,
amid relative uncertainty,
discover its mission,
fulfill it, or betray it,
and that means
both me and you.
BLIDA-JOINVILLE HOSPITAL
ALGERIA, 1953
You go to the entrance.
Good morning, madam.
When does your husband arrive?
Dr. Fanon.
Dr. Fanon.
And you are?
Emilio, the guard.
No, thanks.
I'll be fine.
Good morning, gentlemen.
Dr. Fanon, your new department head.
Are there activities?
What do you mean, activities?
They can't even dress themselves.
We already have to clean them
morning and night.
We ration their water.
In this heat?
So they don't throw their piss at us.
The others are over there.
Are they allowed out?
Just a short walk.
Morning, before lunch and evening.
Only when it's a bit cooler.
Only if they've behaved well.
They're scared to death.
They've learned to respect us.
Untie them.
The director will never agree.
Call your colleagues.
Do as I say.
Do it yourself.
Thank you.
So, how was your day?
My staff won't follow me,
but I won't accept
what they're forcing on me.
I'm going to shake things up.
- Good evening. Auguste Darmain.
- Good evening.
Dr. Frantz Fanon?
That's right, Director.
Tell me, freeing the patients,
is that your idea?
I don't chain the patients.
It's for their own safety.
You think you'll change the nature
of North Africans?
In my ward, they'll get the same
treatment as European patients.
The same rights.
You don't know them,
they're dangerous.
North Africans are more violent,
more primitive,
no prefrontal lobe.
Porot, who founded this hospital,
knows what he's talking about.
They're men like you and me.
Did you choose Algeria
for your first posting?
You think I'd be more legitimate
treating my fellow West Indians?
I'm warning you, Fanon,
at the slightest incident,
I'll hold you responsible.
Good thing, Mr. Darmain,
I don't run away
from my responsibilities.
New friend?
He'd never dare lecture
one of his colleagues.
Never.
We don't care what he thinks of you.
Aren't you the one asking
to be judged on results?
In my ward, patients can come and go,
you can control entries and exits.
The keys.
Hello, Mr. Ben Abdellah.
How are you today?
You understand why I need you?
What's he saying?
He wants to see his family, doctor.
His family?
According to his file,
he doesn't have any.
Maybe it's his way
of talking about his isolation.
He wants to know where you're from.
I was born in Martinique,
a small island near America,
the oldest French colony.
My grandparents had chains
on their feet, slaves.
They came from Africa too.
What an incredible story.
God bless you.
Khal, nobody asked you.
We'll listen to what you have to say.
You're not like the others.
I have a question, Doctor.
Isn't it risky letting
them walk around?
Walking is an essential need,
it helps the brain function.
And they're not prisoners,
but men like you and me.
You'll learn to live with them
and they with you.
There.
Those who want to work with me,
come to my office.
So, Fanon,
these are your fine theories?
They're not worth much
in the face of reality.
We won't change a century
of domination in a few months.
I don't claim that.
Why do you persist?
Admit you're wrong.
Let me prove otherwise.
You can't be right
and everyone else wrong.
They don't even respect the rules.
Just yesterday
they were glaring at each other.
And now they're playing together.
- Come on, this way.
- This way, this way.
Actually, I'll submit a request
for a football field
in the next budget.
You're not against it?
Don't try to wriggle out of this.
This is serious, Director.
Very serious.
Physical activity socializes
and regulates them.
You're on your own, Fanon.
Yeah.
Hey.
Doctor?
Mr. Fanon.
Be brief, I don't have time.
My name is Jacques Azoulay,
I'm an intern,
I want to join your team.
I want to work with you.
What do they say about me
at Algiers University?
That you're breaking through
a completely outdated
colonial psychiatry.
And no one wants to work with you,
except the Algerians.
So you're coming to my rescue.
No.
Is it true you worked with
Tosquelles at Saint-Alban?
He taught me everything I know.
You want to become a psychiatrist?
I wanted to study philosophy
at first,
but my parents think
it's not a real job.
But being a doctor, yes.
What do your parents do for a living?
They're tailors.
Interesting.
In Algiers?
Yes.
Give me their address.
Agreed.
You start tomorrow.
Very well.
Colonized people are portrayed
as suffering arrested development,
impervious to reason,
incapable of managing
their own affairs,
requiring permanent supervision.
The history of colonized peoples
is transformed
into meaningless agitation,
and as a result, it seems
as if for these peoples,
humanity began with the arrival
of these valiant colonists.
What are you doing?
These are notes
on the colonial situation.
Here, I perceive it differently
than in the West Indies.
Life in Algeria
makes it appear different to me.
It's late.
Come to bed.
Coming.
I'd like to have a word with him.
Doctor?
I found him this morning
when I arrived.
He says it's not his fault.
It's not his fault.
Behavioral disorder.
Verbal stereotyping.
He must have suffered violent trauma.
Do we know who brought him in?
Put him under observation.
No signs of psychosis
or schizophrenia but
I'm leaning toward recent trauma.
Maybe temporary.
He may have been involved
in an attack.
That's the authorities' vocabulary.
The Germans also
called them terrorists.
We called them resistance fighters.
That's true.
If only we were aware
that we're occupying Algeria.
But no.
For us, it's France.
Making the settler realize
that he, too, is alienated -
and that one cannot be healed
without the other -
that's the challenge.
Keep an eye on him.
I'll let you finish
analyzing this file,
get back to me later.
Very well, Doctor.
Do you know Armstrong?
"Let my people go".
A song of liberation.
Jazz,
a music of revolt from North America.
You must have an opinion
on what's happening.
The attacks against the French army.
Do you think the Algerian people
will rise up?
I don't do politics, Mrs. Fanon,
but it's normal to rebel
when you're oppressed.
That's what your husband says.
He's been unleashed for a long time.
And we're running to keep up.
Do you know ra music?
No.
I can lend you some records.
With pleasure.
My wife Josie. Jacques Azoulay.
Hello, madam.
Hello. Nice to meet you.
Welcome, Mr. Azoulay.
No, Jacques. Call me Jacques.
You can say she's pretty,
I don't mind.
Thank you for the lovely meal.
You're welcome, it was my pleasure.
There's so much choice
at Blida market.
Don't you have a maid?
Emilio already looks after us.
Go back to the buffet,
I have something to show you.
Help yourself.
There are fritters, skewers.
And you absolutely must try this.
It's a Caribbean specialty.
Back home, we have lots of crabs.
The touloulou, the mantou
and the terrible sand fiddler.
Tradition has it that at Easter,
children hunt them.
An initiation rite.
I was content with my bar mitzvah.
Excuse me.
Yes, of course.
Go ahead, gentlemen, eat.
Excuse me.
Where's the bathroom, please?
REFLECTIONS ON THE JEWISH QUESTION
The first thing I look at
in someone's home
is their library.
Go ahead.
Black Skin, White Masks.
That's what happens
to a rejected thesis.
Why?
Too unconventional.
I had to write a second one
to convince them
I could fall in line.
But here, I'm a psychiatrist,
not a writer.
Return to My Native Land
by Aim Csaire.
My literature teacher
at Schlcher High School.
He opened the way for me,
even if I don't entirely
share his choices.
Reflections on the Jewish question.
Jean-Paul Sartre.
That's all Sartre.
The first time I felt Jewish
was in 1940,
when Vichy banned us from school.
It's the other's gaze that makes
the Jew, the Black, the madman.
There you are, both of you.
I was wondering where you'd gone.
A typical case,
ex-philosopher turned psychiatrist.
Don't be too long,
our guests have to leave.
Tosquelles' essential idea
is that psychiatrists must change
how they view patients.
Treat them as human beings,
listen to them, then integrate them
into a community.
How do you want to change things
in Algeria?
Here, like anywhere else.
Come on, our Algerian friends
have a curfew to comply with.
Doctor?
Quick, the soldiers.
Ahmed.
Stop.
What right do you have to take him?
This patient is my responsibility.
So you're the defender of the Arabs?
I hear you let them play football.
Dr Fanon, head of department.
We need to question
him, counter-terrorism.
- I doubt he can tell you anything.
- That's for me to decide.
Without authorization,
you don't enter my ward.
Right.
Dr Fanon.
Hocine.
Hocine.
I assume you know this sergeant.
I'm listening.
Hocine.
I was asked to find a place
to hide our wounded,
and Blida Hospital is a solution.
It's because they're being treated
by you that I stayed, doctor.
You know I hate being presented
with a fait accompli.
Who is this "they"?
I have to see him tomorrow.
Good timing, I need some fresh air,
it's stifling in here.
You must be careful, Doctor.
Very careful.
And your wife, isn't that risky?
She's no different from me,
she wants to see your country.
We can't blame a young couple
for spending a day in the mountains.
Be careful, if you defend Algerians,
they'll build a case against you.
How did they know he was in my ward?
Anyone at the hospital
could have sold him out.
The director, I think
he's treating Sergeant Rolland.
Sergeant, at his age?
He's been in the army
a long time, no?
He's known
for his intense interrogations.
In your jargon,
you'd call him a sociopath,
a loudmouth, impulsive,
with a total lack of empathy.
And ruthless if you resist him.
One thing's certain,
avoid him at all costs.
He probably has psychopathic traits,
but let's not jump to conclusions.
I see you're working
on your psychiatric semiology,
that's good.
That's him.
This is Ramdane.
Welcome.
I'm not presumptuous enough to think
the Algerian revolution needs me,
but if I can be useful...
Your reputation has spread
beyond the hospital walls.
You can't live here as you please.
You have no right to plow your land.
You're on your land,
but you can't live there
as you see fit.
You can't visit your families.
You have no right to farm your land.
Yes.
They're starving us.
A settler's vote
is worth seven of ours.
And you, and you, and you...
you're worth seven times less
than a Frenchman.
That's how they control our future.
They exploit us
to seize all our wealth.
That's why they're here.
For the enrichment of France.
Tell me, you?
Are they better than you?
No.
Tell me, are their children
better than yours?
No.
They send your children to school
to teach them
about France's greatness.
Our history doesn't exist.
There's nothing about our traditions.
Fear.
Fear.
Fear won't get us anywhere.
If we rise up,
their weapons can't stop us.
We must decide for ourselves
what's good for us.
This is our Algeria.
It belongs to us.
Long live Algeria!
There was this young girl,
I felt such hostility in her eyes.
If she could have,
she'd have put me on that boat.
She's not angry with you, ma'am,
it's the settlers and their contempt.
Back home in Martinique,
we were taught to be ashamed
of being Black, so much so
that we look at
each other with mistrust,
unable to act together.
But here, it's different.
Doctor, watch out.
You okay?
You okay?
Did you do this?
Good evening, gentlemen.
Your animal must have escaped and...
Hey, shut up.
So it's my fault
if my animal is dead,
lying on the road.
Who gave you this car?
Don't see many blacks
driving around here.
That's my husband.
Dr. Fanon.
I'm a psychiatrist at Blida Hospital.
Listen, I'll compensate you.
- How much do you want?
- 40,000 francs.
40,000 francs?
40,000 francs.
I don't have it on me,
I can write you an IOU,
and pay you tomorrow if you want.
Blacks aren't trustworthy people.
So, you know what we're gonna do?
You're gonna leave me your car,
and walk back.
That's way, way too much
for your sheep.
You know that full well.
Aren't you forgetting something?
Frantz?
It wasn't them who neutralized me
with their weapons,
I thought of you.
I don't want anything
to happen to this kid.
We'll hold on, Frantz.
What's happening here is unbearable.
That girl from the village is right.
You complained about those
West Indians who want to
stay French despite the humiliation.
There's finally a chance
for change here,
we can't run away.
Remember you told me
about Robert's time,
when they tried to starve
the people in Martinique?
People replanted vegetables
to avoid starving.
You're right.
That's the way forward.
In the colonies,
the colonized only speaks
to policemen or soldiers.
The colonized town or native town,
the medina, is a disreputable place,
full of disreputable people.
The colonial world
is a world cut in two.
The borders
are marked by barracks
and police stations.
Wait. Slower.
Sorry.
You understand why this machine
drives me crazy?
The colonized person
looks at the settler's town
with lust,
with a look of envy,
dreams of possession,
sitting at the settler's table,
sleeping in the settler's bed,
with his wife if possible.
The colonized is envious,
and the settler knows it,
noting bitterly, but always on guard,
that they want to take our place.
TO SIT AT THE COLONIST'S TABLE,
SLEEP IN THE COLONIST'S BED,
WITH HIS WIFE IF POSSIBLE
Good morning, Doctor.
Remember to get more beds
for the Algerian ward.
We need to order seeds
for the Creole garden.
We'll plant our vegetables ourselves,
with the patients.
Josie's idea.
Next time we go to the village,
maybe we'll have something
to offer them.
Why not a caf?
For the patients?
It would save you drinking
coffee with the others...
with the other idiots.
Moorish caf, another colonial term.
How do you say it in Arabic?
But the director...
He does all he can to make our lives
difficult,
let's stop going through him.
You okay?
Good morning, sir.
How are you?
Ma'am.
She's Ahmed's mother.
We don't know where your son is,
Mrs. Messaoui.
She says it's not possible,
he's a good boy, a kind boy.
What did they do to him?
What should I tell him?
Tell him I've filed
several official requests
to get my patient back,
and I won't give up.
I won't let them go.
Hello. Good morning, sir. Dr. Fanon.
I'm calling for news
about my patient,
Ahmed Messaoui.
Yes.
He was taken by a Sergeant Rolland.
Yes, he lives in Algiers.
1932, yes.
Very well. Sir,
I'll let you call me back.
Yes, I await your call,
sir. Thank you.
I await your proposals
so your culture
can break free
from the one they imposed on you,
so you can feel at home.
Gentlemen...
Salah.
Animals don't let themselves
be pushed around.
I am a lion, I am a lion!
It's okay.
I have a comment, Doctor.
We have no place to pray.
We need a room.
Agreed.
No problem.
Take charge,
and I'll handle the permits.
Here, there's enough space
for a prayer room, even a mosque.
But it's up to you to do it.
We could change the decor,
for example,
add new colors,
make it cheerful, so we feel good.
We could do craft workshops,
fix bikes, start a jazz club.
Ahmed, we could dance.
You like dancing. Look.
We could dance.
Start a film club, screen movies.
No?
I'm talking about
doing things together,
like football, for example,
manual activities.
I suggested a newspaper,
and I'm waiting for your suggestions.
Doctor, God bless you.
When do I get out?
My family is waiting for me.
My mother's about to come get me.
God bless you, doctor.
When will I get out?
Aren't you happy with us?
We're like one big family,
everything's fine.
Ben Abdellah, what are you saying?
Do you hear what he's saying?
He's making it up.
No, no, stop.
Your parents died long ago.
You insult my parents, son of a dog!
The meeting is over! It's over!
Blowing up the colonial world
is now an image of action
that is very clear,
very understandable,
and can be taken up
by each individual
constituting the colonized people.
To destroy the colonial world
is nothing more or less
than abolishing a zone,
burying it deep underground
or expelling it from the territory.
Frantz, now.
Come on. Come on.
Well?
Congratulations, it's a boy.
- Can I see him?
- Wait here, I'll wash him.
MATERNITY WARD
It's a boy. It's a boy. It's a boy.
Congratulations.
Sorry to disturb you, Doctor.
What's happening?
We have an emergency.
Let's go.
What will you call him?
Olivier.
Son of Frantz, grandson of?
Meaning?
He was born on Algerian soil,
here we say...
We can go back
several generations that way.
Nobody saw you?
What happened to him?
Shot while escaping, doctor.
What do you mean,
shot while escaping?
They make the prisoner think
he's going to get wood,
let him walk away and shoot him down.
Like it was an escape.
That way, they're covered
by the hierarchy.
Go get Azoulay.
Tell him to prep the operating room.
I got him. I got him.
There.
Pacification.
Is he up to date on tetanus?
I don't know.
We'll give him one,
but he leaves tomorrow.
No problem, Doctor. I'll handle it.
Hold him.
I'll sign the admission form.
Put whatever name you want.
If Darmain does an inspection,
we're covered legally.
It'll be okay. It's okay.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
You look like you've been
doing this all your life.
I had a crash course.
1948, in Israel.
Breathe.
Why didn't you stay in Israel?
Because of my parents.
Yours?
I live in the present.
Just because I left them
doesn't mean they're not still in me.
I have to go, Josie needs me.
The Chra mountains
are full of rebels,
if they all come for treatment,
it'll be complicated.
We'll manage
or I won't be able to face myself.
Before you leave,
clean everything up.
Don't leave anything
lying around. Nothing.
Agreed.
Good luck. You'll be fine.
Thank you, Doctor.
Dear Doctor, come to my arms.
Congratulations, Doctor.
Hello.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you all.
Thank you very much.
It's tradition, doctor.
When a child is born, we eat tamina.
Plus, this is the best,
my wife made it.
Here, doctor.
Well, thank you for everything.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
A first child calls for celebration.
After the war, I had a daughter,
Mireille.
She's in France with her mother.
I've never met her.
Did you see that, Doctor? Look.
This time, they're taking part.
Behind their smiles,
there's violence.
Let's not forget that.
Welcome to Porot Hospital,
the old world of psychiatry.
Your coat.
- Thanks.
- What's that?
My lunch.
Okay.
Write down everything he says.
Okay?
- Can I speak?
- Yes, everyone can speak.
But if you say something dumb,
he'll catch you out.
I learned that the hard way.
Sometimes he's hard to follow,
but what counts is progress.
His mantra is: figure it out.
How did you end up here?
Dr. Fanon asked me to join you.
You must be smart, then.
Yes. Yes, I'm brilliant.
Quite brilliant, actually.
He's a patient too.
It's incredible.
What about the rest of the hospital?
The rest of the hospital
tolerates us.
Well, not really.
Actually, they really hate us.
Where are you from?
Algiers.
Me too.
From a Jewish family.
- Yeah, me too.
- Pretty conservative.
No, it was fine.
That's good.
Go ahead.
Thank you, thank you, thank you...
Thank you all. Thank you all.
And thank you to Dr Azoulay
for the invitation.
A society that drives its members
to desperate solutions,
to violence, is not viable.
It's a society that must be replaced.
The duty of the citizen,
yours, mine, is to speak out.
The colonized people are presented as
having arrested development,
incapable of managing their
own affairs, without history.
The colonizer's language,
when speaking of the colonized,
is a zoological language.
They allude to stench,
to swarming, to crawling,
to gesticulations.
To find the right word, the colonizer
constantly refers to the bestiary.
The first thing
the native learns to do
is to stay in his place.
That's why the native's dreams
are muscular dreams,
dreams of action, aggressive dreams.
I dream I jump, swim, run, climb.
I dream I burst out laughing,
that I cross the river in one stride,
that I'm being chased
by a pack of cars
that never catch me.
With his aggression built up
in his muscles,
the colonized will first
turn against his own.
- Dirty nigger!
- Dirty nigger!
Algeria is French!
Algeria is French!
Algeria is French!
Sit down.
Sit down.
Traitor!
You're going to sit down
and listen to what he has to say.
Sit down.
Sit down!
FEAR
It's true. It's true.
We all want the same thing.
But you put religion
above everything,
you drink alcohol
and want proletarian revolution.
You, the Kabyle,
want your language respected.
The people should decide,
not colonels who only want power.
They can't decide everything
from Tunis.
You're the leaders.
You're the leaders.
Ramdane, what do you propose?
Clean elections,
democratic ones.
I passed a motion
to stop executions and torture.
Let's not stoop to doing
within our own ranks
what we criticize the French
for doing.
Patrol.
Where's Ramdane?
Let them in.
Come on, come on, come on.
Faced with the colonial arrangement,
the colonized person lives
in permanent tension.
The colonist's world is a hostile one
that he rejects,
yet at the same time, it's enviable.
The colonized always dreams
of taking the colonist's place.
The colonized is always on edge,
struggling to read
the colonial world's many signs,
never knowing
if he's crossed the line.
In the world arranged
by the colonialist,
the colonized is
always presumed guilty.
Yet, deep within himself,
the colonized recognizes
no authority.
He is dominated,
but not domesticated.
In his muscles,
the colonized is always waiting,
it wouldn't be right
to say he is anxious,
that he is terrorized,
in fact, he is always ready
to abandon his role as prey
to take on that of hunter.
It is not possible to enslave men
without logically making
them inferior in every way,
and racism is only the emotional,
affective explanation,
sometimes the intellectual one
as well, of this inferiorization.
In fact,
racism follows a flawless logic.
A country that lives,
draws its substance
from exploiting different peoples,
makes its peoples inferior.
Racism is not a constant
of the human mind,
it is a disposition inscribed
in a determined system.
Is he sleeping?
Yes.
Sometimes I think he deserves
a normal childhood.
Away from all this.
Leaving would prove them right.
Go ahead, come in.
Come in.
- Good evening.
- Good evening.
Come on, quickly.
Good evening.
Will you eat with us?
Thank you, ma'am.
Are you staying?
I'd rather go home.
Thank you, Mrs. Fanon.
I'll alert our men in Tunis.
Agreed.
I heard what happened at the village.
Thanks for the shirt.
You're welcome.
What about your colleagues?
Don't worry, they don't visit me.
It all started in 1945, in Stif.
As soon as we demanded
freedom, citizenship,
they opened fire.
I was secretary
of the Chteaudun commune,
a good little civil servant,
nice and quiet.
When I left my parents in 1943
to go fight,
it was to defend freedom,
the Republic.
I believed in de Gaulle.
Then I realized,
just before the victory parade,
when the sergeant
ordered me
to hand over my uniform
to a young resistance fighter,
because he was white.
In Martinique, we've been
French citizens since 1848,
we were never recognized
as war veterans.
I fought for the peasants of Creuse,
but I'll always be
worth less than him.
But my case is nothing.
We need people like you
to carry our message.
Would you write for El Moujahid,
our newspaper?
With pleasure.
You're one of us now.
And our fight won't stop
after the French leave,
a different kind of war awaits us.
After Algerian independence,
comes the struggle for power
or for democracy.
Every since I was born,
I've seen my father die,
I've seen my brothers leave
and children cry.
My mother suffered so much
she's in her grave
and laughed at bombs
and laughed at worms.
That's Boris Vian.
Do you know where my cigarettes are, darling?
On the table.
I've never seen him like this.
He rarely opens up.
See you soon.
Thank you very much.
- Come in.
- Captain.
Sergeant Rolland.
Did he talk?
How could you miss Ramdane?
Our intel was solid.
This city,
it's my city.
Sergeant,
I have a better idea.
We'll do things differently.
The information
is in the medical file.
Fanon,
I was telling Captain Ferrre
that you're the most original
psychiatrist in the hospital,
a special case.
Sergeant Rolland had
a violent episode with his wife,
I'm sure you can do something.
You've treated soldiers
with severe depression before.
Why don't you take him on?
If I'm entrusting him to you,
it's because I believe
in your methods.
Can we talk?
You don't become a threat
to your wife or son
without suffering trauma
or shock, Captain.
You need to tell me
what's happening, Doctor.
I'm not in his head.
No, but you give him orders,
so you know if he's suffered
or committed inhuman acts.
He won't say anything.
Captain.
In my ward, my patients are free.
Hello, Sergeant.
Hello.
Could I have a normal doctor?
As you wish.
My door remains open.
Where are the barracks?
They say this ward is
a rebel hideout. Are you aware?
People say many things.
I'm just doing my job.
I follow orders too.
They say it's eating at me,
I take it too much to heart.
Hey, hey.
You know what I do to terrorists,
to France-haters?
Do the doors stay open here?
Is this a house of drafts?
You're not gonna follow me
like a lapdog?
Get to work. Get lost.
BLOWING UP THE COLONIAL WORLD IS NOW
A VERY CLEAR PICTURE OF ACTION
How are you, my brother Hocine?
God bless you.
We call her sweet potato.
She grew up among the others.
Where are the wounded?
There.
They took refuge here
after the attacks.
Salim, your father was a great man.
May God keep him.
How can you work with a Frenchman?
She needs treatment too.
Your diagnosis?
How do you survive a massacre?
I know what you're going to tell me,
revolt.
Is there any other therapy?
Military roadblock.
Operation in progress.
We'll have to sleep here tonight.
Don't you ever sleep, Doctor?
I'm afraid I'll forget.
Remind me what this music is called.
It's chabi.
"Cha" means the people.
What do you call
women who whisper
in the ears of the sick?
Healers?
In Martinique,
we call them frotteuses.
They rub your body with herbs
and drive away illness.
Could you introduce me to one?
The one who told Josie
she was pregnant.
Hello, Doctor.
It's for a court assessment.
Sit down.
Lamine?
Lamine?
What happened?
Did you hear what happened
at the village?
My father, they shot him down.
God bless him.
The French swore to kill us all,
one after the other.
Has a single Frenchman been arrested
for all these murdered Algerians?
None of them were tried.
I wanted to go up to the mountains,
but I'm too small.
So my friend and I decided to act.
But you're a child,
and these are adult matters.
But they kill children too.
Did you know him?
He was a friend,
we played football together.
Had he done something to you?
No.
He was a true friend.
That's it. Do what you want.
I'll send you my report.
Recruiting children,
what a bunch of savages.
I won't let you go.
How are you?
Are you sleeping better?
The nurses told me
your sleep was very restless.
Want to talk about it?
Good.
When do I go back to the field?
It will come. For now,
you're most useful to me there.
What do you think of this Fanon?
A good doctor.
As a man.
He's somebody,
but he's against us.
This girl will only talk to you.
I have nothing to hide from my wife.
Very well. Come with me.
When you get to the bar,
a man will search you.
Your heart will beat very fast.
What will you think?
They're pigs,
they have no right to search me.
No.
Think of something
that makes you smile.
A childhood memory.
Do you hate the French?
Those who torture and kill,
yes.
Why did you join the cause?
My father.
If the soldiers provoke you,
what do you do?
Good morning, miss.
What do you do for a living?
What do you do for a living?
I'm studying.
- Nursing studies.
- Where are you going?
To the hospital?
That's very good.
Aren't you afraid
of the consequences?
Are you ready to die?
Give this to Ramdane.
We need to get him out.
He'll last longer.
Very well.
He refuses to talk to me.
You know the army, Fanon,
they're taught
to keep their mouths shut.
Don't tell me you're giving up,
that's not like you.
It is men like him -
tormented by the Western discourse
of superiority -
that give my work its full meaning.
Meaning what?
The alienated.
Stop with your theories,
you're confusing medicine
with revolution.
What treatment did you prescribe?
Chlorpromazine,
increasingly higher doses
to try to regulate his
mood swings and sleep.
Not being involved in all this.
They destroyed him.
I'll change the medication.
My diagnosis will be more precise
when I know him better.
A hypnosis session
might be beneficial.
SUMMONS
EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE
I learned more with you
- than with...
- Stop whining.
You don't need me anymore.
Psychiatry has gained a good fighter.
Where will you do your service?
At Maillot,
at Algiers military hospital.
You can imagine how eager I am
to serve the French army.
I thought about deserting,
but I can't do that to my parents.
I understand.
Well...
Go ahead.
Thank you.
Doctor?
Sorry.
Do we have any penicillin left?
No, we're out of stock.
I'll arrange with a colleague
to get some.
Thanks.
Yes. Come on, let's go up.
Don't cry, sweetheart.
Are we going with Mommy?
Come on.
Wait.
What are you doing here?
Did you know about the caf?
Who did this?
I'm sure you know.
Do you know how many Europeans
have died?
How many Algerians have died
since colonization began?
Killing is my job.
I thought yours was saving lives.
You have no right
to enter my home. Get out.
Didn't you tell me
"when I feel like talking"?
Here, I'm not a doctor,
I'm a husband and father, like you.
Even if I disagree with you,
you're not my enemy.
You're no better than me.
If you want to talk,
it's tomorrow in my office.
Now get out of my house.
Get out of my house.
Easy there, boy.
Right now, I'm allergic to people.
No one would blame me
for putting a bullet in your head.
Very well.
Let's not get worked up.
See you tomorrow.
I have nothing to hide from my wife.
Did you sleep badly, Doctor?
Too much work.
Are you feeling better?
No point talking, my life is ruined.
I've always served my country,
never refused a mission.
The military are always
the last ramparts.
I have nothing more to say.
What you're doing to them,
it's destroying you from within.
If you agree to talk about it,
you might feel better.
I'm scared.
Classified, doctor.
He took longer to fall asleep.
He must sense
the tension we're feeling.
Yes, even children do.
I'm scared for Olivier too.
If we leave, we're cowards.
But if we stay, we're targets.
Let's continue.
Among the characteristics
of the Algerian people,
as established by colonialism,
we note their appalling criminality.
Before 1954,
magistrates, police officers, lawyers
unanimously agreed
that Algerian criminality
was problematic.
"He's a born criminal," they said.
A theory was developed
and scientific proof provided.
The North African is a born criminal,
his predatory instinct is well-known
and his massive aggression
is visible to the naked eye.
The Algerian's criminality,
the violence
of his murders is not the result
of nervous system organization
or character traits,
as Professor Porot
claims to have proven,
but the direct product
of the colonial situation.
The French are in the plains,
with the army, the tanks.
On the mountain,
there are only Algerians.
Up there, the sky
and its promises of the afterlife.
Down below,
the French with
their concrete promises
of imprisonment,
beatings, executions.
I'll sign your discharge papers.
Keep taking your medication.
Good luck.
Go on, you're next.
Good riddance.
I never understood
why you helped him.
Hocine! Hocine! Hocine!
So inevitably, we hit a wall,
we discover the core
of this self-hatred
that defines conflicts
in segregated societies.
What got into you?
He killed my father.
- Why are you treating him?
- I don't choose my patients.
Ramdane is waiting for you in Tunis.
I'm continuing my work here.
I suppose you let him go.
Doctor?
Doctor?
Go get the files
of those we smuggled out.
Hocine.
Warn Alice.
Are you pleased with yourself?
See where your ideas lead us?
You should be committed.
The files.
Your coats.
It's been an honor working with you.
Those in the villages and cities
will know who to talk to.
Take care of yourself.
...my brother.
You too, Alice.
Where's Hocine?
Arrest me,
I'm the one responsible.
You'll look good in my report,
supporting terrorists.
Go.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Doctor?
Well?
Doctor? Doctor?
Rolland, get them in the truck.
Rolland, get them in the truck.
That's an order!
Rolland.
Sergeant Rolland,
you're under arrest.
Take him away.
Take him away!
"Minister,
"for nearly three years,
"I have devoted myself entirely
to this country
"and the people who live here.
"I spared neither
effort nor enthusiasm.
"But what are enthusiasm
and concern for humanity
"if daily reality is woven from lies,
"cowardice, and contempt for man?
"Madness is one way for
man to lose his freedom.
"And I can say that,
placed at this crossroads,
"it was with horror that I measured
"the extent of alienation
among this country's people.
"Algeria's status?
"Systematic dehumanization.
"For many months,
"my conscience has been torn
by unforgivable debates,
"and their conclusion
is not to despair of man,
"that is to say, of myself.
"For all these reasons,
I have the honor, Minister,
"to ask you to kindly
accept my resignation
"and end my mission in Algeria."
Did you see?
Come.
My friend.
Good to see you.
Likewise.
Hello.
Hello.
Please, come in.
How was the trip
in that old crate from the stone age?
A bit shaken up.
Olivier wasn't even scared.
Look. Want to go explore?
How are you doing otherwise?
It's complicated.
You can continue your work,
you have a position
at Tunis hospital,
and... I've submitted your name
to become ambassador
of the Algerian Republic's
provisional government in Ghana.
I'll keep you posted.
Thank you.
Ambassador.
Go ahead, settle in.
I'll see you when I get back.
The colonels want to see me.
Something's happening.
I'm taking Malek with me.
See you soon.
FARIDA FALEZ
We must not...
We must not... No.
We must not only fight
for our people's freedom...
We must not only fight
for our people's freedom,
we must also,
throughout this struggle,
teach our people and ourselves the...
Frantz?
You okay?
Can you do the ending again? Please.
We must also,
throughout this struggle,
teach this people and ourselves
the dimension of man.
We must retrace the paths of history.
Hello?
Yes, it's me.
Thank you.
It's Ramdane, they got him too.
But why?
By eliminating him, the colonels
risk making him a martyr.
Yes, but he was a democrat,
close to the people.
They even gave me the title
for the article:
Abane Ramdane died
in the field of honor.
Obviously.
And you're going to follow them?
Frantz,
are you going to follow them?
Democratia.
My blood is like this apple,
rotten.
What title did you choose in the end?
The Wretched of the Earth.
I don't think
I'll ever see independence.
THE WRETCHED OF THE EARTH
Come.
I died on December 6, 1961,
from acute leukemia,
one year before
Algeria's independence.
At my request,
I was secretly buried in Algeria,
near the Tunisian border.
My wife, Josie,
continued to live in Algeria.
And 28 years later,
she took her own life.
Laura Haydon