Rachid Hami and Shaïn Boumedine, brothers in arms in the film “Pour la France”

“In the film, we have a character, Aïssa, who like my brother was ready to sacrifice everything for France, he was ready to die and kill for France. And for me, France is a great project, an ideal What is Liberty – Equality – Fraternity.” Director Rachid Hami delivers in theaters, Wednesday February 8, For France, the journey inspired by that of his very real brother Jallal, a cadet who died in 2012 at the age of 24 by drowning in a pond that he had to cross in military equipment during an integration hazing led by his 2nd year classmates from the Saint-Cyr school. The film is not a documentary. “I wanted to offer a cinema film in which the spectators can also find their place”, he explains to franceinfo.

However, Rachid Hami explores with precision the relationship he had with his brother, not always easy in communication, marked by unspoken words. The film also looks back on a family facing the death of one of their own and struggling to get the army to pay them honors worthy of their commitment. On the army itself, its ranks of conviction and those who will do everything not to see the image of the institution tarnished. Destinies interpreted with talent by the actors Karim Leklou, during the screen of Rachid Hami, Shaïn Boumedine (Mektoub my love, Placed)Laurent Lafitte, Lubna Azabal, Samir Guesmi or Slimane Dazi.

To one the sword, the other the camera

Why title his film For France ? Rachid Hami responds with a memory. “One day my brother said: I want to give back to this country a little of what it gave me. He had the will to serve a republican and democratic ideal, to serve a France which had brought us a possibility of a future and security. I thought it was important to tell the story of this young man who was a refugee, exile, emigrant, Muslim and also French.”

Rachid, Jallal and their mother actually left Algeria in the 1990s, faced with the rise of the Islamic Salvation Front (Fis). They settled in Seine-Saint-Denis in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine. Jallal joined Sciences-Po, left to study in Taiwan. He is a brilliant student. In his letter of motivation to enter Saint-Cyr, Jallal Hami wrote: “For some, values ​​are archaic, for me it is not so”. The pen before the sword, before wearing the school sword. Rachid Hami uses the camera with delicacy and strength.

Two years ago, following the trial of those responsible for Jallel’s death “tragic and absurd” in the words of Rachid Hami, three people were given suspended prison sentences for manslaughter. Four were released. “Making a film is a responsibility, especially in the current (political) context. It was important for me not to make an activist film that says good or bad, but on the contrary a nuanced film, which questions, which deconstructs the clichés about the army as much as on an immigrant family.”