Mysteries in the Archives: 1934 the Assassination of King Alexander of Yugoslavia

200726 min 16 secFilm: Documentaire

Réalisation: Serge Viallet

Production: Florence Fanelli

Co-produced by ARTE France and Institut national de l'audiovisuel with the participation of Centre National de la Cinématographie, in association with YLE Teema - Ritva Leino and RTSI-Televisione Svizzera, and with the participation of the National Film Board of Canada.

Ce titre est une acquisition.

Marseille, Tuesday, October 9, 1934.

King Alexander I of Yugoslavia arrives in the port of Marseille for an official visit to France.  Several minutes later, he is shot point-black – killed by a Croatian nationalist opposed to his regime. 

The close-up filming of an assassination was a first in the history of cinema.  The footage also revealed serious lapses in security. Why so many?  Why were the cameramen able to get so close to film the dying king?  What became of their footage? 

The Yugoslavian king could have come directly to Paris by train. Why, then, did he travel to Marseille by ship – a choice that played a large role in complicating security arrangements. 

A closer look at the footage reveals that however unintentionally, the celebrated Fox Movietone newsreel of the assassination served French authorities. The Fox Movietone report, for example, neglected the civilian casualties – and the number of shot bystanders exceeds the number of bullets fired by the assassin – revealing that security forces also opened fire in the chaos…

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  • Histoire > Réflexion sur l'histoireHistoire mondiale

Générique


idée
Serge Viallet
Cédric Lépée
direction de collection
Serge Viallet
réalisateur
Serge Viallet
monteur
Alexandre Auque
assistant monteur
Vanessa Bozza
réalisation graphique
Stéphanie Mée
Raymond Perrin
Jean-Michel Moussu
illustration musicale
Niels Poux
conception générique collection
Philippe Truffault
réalisation générique collection
Philippe Truffault
montage générique collecition
François Labat
traducteur
Dana Burns Westberg
narrateur
Dana Burns Westberg
documentaliste
Michael Dolan
conception sonore
Laurent Thomas
Jean-François Gasnier
mixage son
Laurent Thomas
Jean-François Gasnier
correction des couleurs
Rémi Berge
gérant de production
Thierry Ippolito
assistant de production
Vincent Encontre
Armelle Jayet
producteur
Florence Fanelli
administrateur
Yasmine Boucherat