About the Film: “Free Men”

“Free Men” (Les hommes libres). Director: Ismael Ferroukhi. Writers: Ismael Ferroukhi and Alain-Michel Blanc.

France, 2012

In French with English subtitles

Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes

Audience: This film is appropriate for most audiences – though there is some (wartime) violence and also references to one character’s homosexuality. In addition to the historical content, the film is an especially interesting way for college students to evaluate the interweaving of historical fact with fiction in the literary genre of historical fiction.

Brief summary of the film: The film is historical fiction but takes careful pains at the end to explain which parts were factual and which parts real. (Actually, the most “unbelievable” parts are true!) Set in the Grand Mosque of Paris during World War II and the Holocaust, the movie explores the real-life activities of Muslims (including mosque officials, such as Si Kaddour Benghabrit) who rescued Jews and aided the French resistance during World War II. The fictitious part is the frame story of Younes, a young Algerian worker in Paris, who unwittingly gets caught up in the mosque’s activities. The other stories – of the rescue of Jews (including the singer Salim Halali and the extraordinary measures taken to prove he was “Muslim”), the Resistance activities, and the smuggling of fugitives outside of Paris – are true.

For an extended description of the film and information about the director, cast, and crew, see: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1699185/

For a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbv7gZFutaM