The Battle of Algiers (Italian: La battaglia di Algeri; Arabic: معركة الجزائر‎; French: La Bataille d'Alger) is a 1966 war film based on occurrences during the Algerian War (1954–62) against the French government in North Africa, the most prominent being the titular Battle of Algiers. An Italo-Algerian production, it was directed by Gillo Pontecorvo and shot on location. The film, which was shot in a Rossellini-inspired newsreel style—in black and white with documentary-type editing—is often associated with Italian neorealism cinema. The film has been critically celebrated and often taken, by insurgent groups and states alike, as an important commentary on urban guerrilla warfare. It occupies the 48th place on the Critics' Top 250 Films of the 2012 Sight & Sound poll as well as 120th place on Empire magazine's list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. Algeria gained independence from the French, a matter which Pontecorvo portrays in the film's epilogue. The film ...