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Gaston Revel, a schoolteacher in Algeria Poster
10.0 1h 32m

Gaston Revel, a schoolteacher in Algeria

In 1936, Gaston Revel entered the École Normale in Algiers, where he was supposed to learn how to "educate the native." It was also during this time that he began to take an interest in politics: he was drawn to the Popular Front, then to Spanish anarchism, and finally to communism. From 1940 to 1955, he taught in Algeria, first in rural areas, then in Bejaia. He returned to Europe because of the war and landed in Provence in September 1914, following the Allied advance. It was in Bejaia, in 1945, that he became fully committed to the Algerian Communist Party: in 1953, he ran for municipal office in the second electoral district (reserved for Algerians) and sat alongside the Muslims. In 1955, at the beginning of the war, he was forced to leave Algeria against his will. But, like thousands of other "red feet," he returned there in 1962 and resumed his teaching career. From all those years, he left a complete and deeply committed record, many letters, notebooks, and newspaper articles.

Top Cast

  • Gaston Revel

    Gaston Revel

    Self (archive footage)

  • Ahmed Ben Bella

    Ahmed Ben Bella

    Self (archive footage)

  • Alain Ruscio

    Alain Ruscio

    Self

  • Hervé Alleg

    Hervé Alleg

    Self (archive footage)

  • Maurice Lurot

    Maurice Lurot

    Self (archive footage)

  • Jacques Cantier

    Jacques Cantier

    Self

  • Alexis Sempé

    Alexis Sempé

    Self

  • Sylvie Thénault

    Sylvie Thénault

    Self

  • Pierre Mathiote

    Pierre Mathiote

    Narrator

Overview

In 1936, Gaston Revel entered the École Normale in Algiers, where he was supposed to learn how to "educate the native." It was also during this time that he began to take an interest in politics: he was drawn to the Popular Front, then to Spanish anarchism, and finally to communism. From 1940 to 1955, he taught in Algeria, first in rural areas, then in Bejaia. He returned to Europe because of the war and landed in Provence in September 1914, following the Allied advance. It was in Bejaia, in 1945, that he became fully committed to the Algerian Communist Party: in 1953, he ran for municipal office in the second electoral district (reserved for Algerians) and sat alongside the Muslims. In 1955, at the beginning of the war, he was forced to leave Algeria against his will. But, like thousands of other "red feet," he returned there in 1962 and resumed his teaching career. From all those years, he left a complete and deeply committed record, many letters, notebooks, and newspaper articles.

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