• Director(s):

    BOUCHERON (PATRICK), VAN WAEREBEKE (DENIS)

  • Producer(s):

    LES FILMS D'ICI, ARTE FRANCE

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2026

  • Language(s):

    German, English, French

  • Rights:

    TV, DVD, NON-THEATRICAL, INTERNET, VOD

The capture of the “Smalah” of Abd El-Kader by the Duke of Aumale: The first Algerian War, a clash between military power and the rhetoric of words.

Long portrayed as a “pacification,” the conquest of Algeria was in fact a long and violent war, lasting from 1830 to 1847, marked by the resistance of Emir Abd El-Kader. The spectacular capture of the Smala fueled a colonial imagination mixing crusade, monarchist propaganda, and the staging of victory. Transformed first into a trophy and then into a pejorative term, the “smala” thus illustrates how colonial domination is also exercised through images and words.