Days of Glory in September
25 July 2007

We don't tend to report on Oscar nominated films too often. After all, the sort of films that generally get nominated for major gongs are the very movies we're looking for alternatives to. Of course Best Foreign Language Film might be in with a shot, which is exactly the category Rachid Bouchareb's Days of Glory (Indigènes) had a shot in, losing out to Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's excellent The Lives of Others. But that's not all. It was also nominated for the Palme D'Or at Cannes, where it won the Best Actor award for the male ensemble cast and the François Chalais Award for the director. And then there's France's César Awards, where it bagged Best Original Writing, having been nominated in 8 other categories. Shall I go on?

Blending WW2 drama with issues of still contemporary concern, Days of Glory tells the story of four young Algerian men who have never set foot on French soil who nonetheless feel it is their duty to enlist along with one hundred and thirty thousand other 'indigenous troops' to fight for the liberation of their 'fatherland' from the Nazi enemy ravaging Europe and the world. Despite their outstanding courage in the face of brutal conflict, they are open discriminated against by the very nation they have signed up to defend.

A powerful and gripping work, its effect in the real world has gone beyond entertainment and education. On its release in France in September 2006 President Jacques Chirac was moved enough by the film to immediately raise the pensions of thousands of veteran soldiers from former French colonies to the same level as their national peers. On its UK theatrical release, in inspired the Nepalese Gurkha troops to take their protest for pension equality to Parliament Square following an open letter to the Prime Minister co-signed by director Rachid Bouchareb. The director attending the protest, heading up a delegation that hand delivered the letter to Downing Street.

Now Metrodome have announced a UK DVD release of the film for 17th September 2007 with the following extra features:

• An introduction by director Rachid Bouchareb;
• The Making Of Days Of Glory;
• Q&A with director Rachid Bouchareb;
• Historical background;
• Theatrical trailer.

The RRP is set for £19.99. A high definition version of the film will also be released on Blu-Ray on 17th September at the RRP of £24.99. Extra features have not been listed for this version, but we hope they will be the same.