The Take Another Take: Capturing Algeria’s fight for liberation
Feb 7, 2026
Mila Turajlić, a documentary filmmaker from Belgrade who researches Yugoslavia and its transnational histories. She uncovers rare 35mm reels by Stevan Labudović documenting Algeria’s liberation. The conversation covers propaganda and media as a battlefield, Yugoslavia’s non-aligned diplomacy, the archive’s rarity, and how film and the UN helped internationalize Algeria’s struggle.
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How Turajlić Found Labudović
- Mila Turajlić discovered Stevan Labudović in Algiers after he was guest of honor at a festival where her film had won an award.
- Labudović was revered in Algeria as the cinematic eye of the liberation war despite being little known in Belgrade.
Tito Sent A Cameraman To Algeria
- Tito personally sent Labudović to assist the Algerian liberation movement by filming material for a documentary to screen at the UN.
- Labudović spent three years filming about 83 kilometers of 35mm footage that remained stored in Belgrade.
Rare 35mm Archive And Limited Cataloging
- Labudović's 35mm reels are rare high-quality records compared with common 16mm or 8mm footage of the era.
- Turajlić has only indexed a fraction of the non-aligned newsreels collection after ten years of research.