ROCKLAND — A 35mm screening of The Battle of Algiers (1966) will be presented as a Criterion Series “Filmmaker’s Pick” film on Friday, Oct. 4, at 5:30 p.m., at the Strand Theatre. This special screening will be introduced by award-winning director Todd Field (Tár). 

One of the most influential political films in history, The Battle of Algiers, by Gillo Pontecorvo, vividly re-creates a key year in the tumultuous Algerian struggle for independence from the occupying French in the 1950s. Shot on the streets of Algiers in documentary style, the film is a case study in modern warfare, with its terrorist attacks and the brutal techniques used to combat them. 

"Pontecorvo’s tour de force has astonishing relevance today," said the Strand, in a news release.

 The New Republic magazine, in a vote by 79 critics, recently recognized this revolutionary movie as the most significant political film of all time.  

The Strand Theatre is one of only three facilities in the entire state of Maine which still retains both the equipment to project 35mm film and a projectionist on staff with the skill to operate that equipment. 

"No digital process truly captures the full essence of images chemically captured on coated celluloid," said Strand house manager and projectionist Liz McLeod, who first trained on 35mm equipment at the old Rockland Drive-In Theatre in the 1970s. "Film projected as film was the backbone of the entire industry of cinema for well over a hundred years, but it's startling how quickly the whole experience has faded from the public consciousness. We are proud at the Strand to be able to show this outstanding and important motion picture as it was made and intended to be shown." 

Filmmaker and actor Todd Field is known for directing In the Bedroom (2001), Little Children (2006), and Tár (2022), which were nominated for a combined fourteen Academy Awards. A local resident, Field was asked to choose a film from the Criterion Collection to show for the Strand’s Criterion Series, and The Battle of Algiers was his choice.  

The Criterion Collection, a film distribution company, was established in 1984 with a mission to preserve important classic and independent films from around the world and make them available to watch in analog and digital formats. A supporter of community movie theaters, The Criterion Collection is sponsoring a year-long series of films at the Strand that will allow the theater to screen a wide range of acclaimed, hard-to-see movies for our local audience.

Tickets are $10/General Admission, $8/Seniors and Under 12, $7/Strand Members, and will be available at the box office 30 minutes prior to show time. For more information, visit www.rocklandstrand.com  or call (207) 594-0070 EX 3. The Strand Theatre is located at 345 Main St., Rockland.