‘Battle of Algiers’ a sharp rendering of urban warfare

“The Battle of Algiers”: Gillo Pontecorvo’s 1966 Italian-Algerian film about the French occupation of Algiers in the 1950s is possibly the most realistic feature film about urban guerrilla warfare — and in the era of the Islamic State, it’s never been more relevant.

The lessons of being an occupying force are clear as men, women and even children shoot at French soldiers and plant bombs in a bustling city, and the French resort to torture.

The Black Panthers and the Irish Republican Army implemented some of the tactics used in the film, and it was even screened at the Pentagon in 2003 as an example of the problems faced by the U.S. military in Iraq.

Pontecorvo was nominated for a best director Oscar, one of three Academy Award nominations the film received.

Opening night festivities begin at 6:15 p.m. Thursday at the Aquarius Theatre (430 Emerson St., Palo Alto) with remarks by Palo Alto Mayor Patrick Burt, three films, including the feature Seed:

The Untold Story, about an underground society dedicated to preserving seeds from biotech chemical companies such as Monsanto, and a filmmaker’s reception. www.unaff.org.