A dissonant speech from General de Gaulle heard through the television: a perfect emblem of paternalist revisionism. His government succeeded in maintaining order in the streets of Paris during the hectic nights of May ’68, all while keeping violence to a minimum.

Really?

The footage and interviews that follow offer a wildly different version of the situation. In contrast to typical television-style interviews, these are uninterrupted, allowing those filmed to express themselves freely and at length. Students, workers, actors, journalists and doctors, all of whom witnessed, or were victims of, the excessive and unhinged violence of the CRS (Compagnies républicaines de sécurité; the general reserve of the French National Police). This documentary, filmed with urgency at the heart of the historic events of May ’68, captures the words and memories of the many people who were involved. This restored version, presented here in its entirety, is an archival document that is just as important as it is troubling.

Frédéric Savard
Archivist and programmer

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