The Manifesto of the 121
Intellectuals in the Algerian War

A film by Mehdi Lallaoui
2011 • France • Documentary • 52 min • B&W and Color
Producer: Memoires Vives Productions

"A very important movement is developing in France, and it is necessary that French and international opinion be better informed about it, at a time when the new turning point in the Algerian War must lead us to see, not to forget, the depth of the crisis that began six years ago. More and more French people are being prosecuted, imprisoned, and condemned for refusing to participate in this war or for coming to the aid of Algerian fighters. Misrepresented by their adversaries, but also watered down by those who should defend them, their reasons generally remain misunderstood. However, it is not enough to say that this resistance to public authorities is respectable. A protest by men whose honour and the just idea they have of the truth have been damaged, it has a meaning that goes beyond the circumstances in which it was asserted and that it is important to grasp, whatever the outcome of events…"

Thus begins the "Manifesto of the 121". Signed by academics, artists and intellectuals (Marguerite Duras, Maurice Blanchot, François Truffaut, Simone Signoret, Edgar Morin, and many others), it was published in September 1960 with the subtitle "Declaration on the Right to Insubordination in the Algerian War".