French cinema presents a new film inspired by the real experiences of African countries under colonial rule. Titled "Les Tirailleurs," the film tells the story of a 17-year-old Senegalese boy named Bakary Diallo, who is drafted into the French army to fight on the front lines during World War I. The idea for the film originated with director Mathieu Vadepied in 1998, coinciding with the death of the last Senegalese fighter, Abdoulaye Ndai, at the age of 104. He believes that the remains of the unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris may belong to an African soldier from the French colonial empire.
The film focuses on human emotions over battle scenes, showcasing "love in wartime," specifically the love within a family and the bond between the draftee son and his father, who follows him to rescue him from the horrors of battle. Director Mathieu Vadepied revealed to "Ordna" at the film’s premiere in Lebanon that the primary motivation behind directing it was to remind audiences of the shared history between the French and Senegalese people, asserting that without acknowledging their common past, "we cannot move forward and we cannot heal."
Film critic Elias Domar, present at the premiere, considered the director and writer's choice of this story to be a clever way to present the reality of the Senegalese people, who were exploited during World War I. He noted that the film is filled with emotion and its plot allows the audience to engage deeply with it.
It's important to mention that "Les Tirailleurs," or Senegalese riflemen, refers to a corps of soldiers who were forcibly recruited into the colonial forces formed within the French colonial empire in 1857.
