Novembre (Film)

I've already watched a couple of times Novembre the film that follows the chase of the Islamist terrorists after the November 13th Islamist attacks in Paris. The film touches me on personal level. I remember that day of 2015. It was a Friday and I was living in Toulouse. After dinner I was working for 2 hours, almost the last task for a project that made me rather nervous and uncomfortable, so when finished I felt pretty relieved. Before opening some film on the laptop I decided to check the news and they came as a storm. I was quite shocked, and I was terrified. But I was not terrified because of the idea that some day that could happen to me, but because at that time I still thought that the problem with Islamism (and all what goes along with a big part of the "Muslim community in France", like anti-white and anti-Asian racism, the hatred for France, the "parallel societies, the criminality...) was not so big, and that the French society still worked fine. And I was terrified before the prospect of the French people overreacting to this attack with a wave of violence against all Muslims (and even just foreigners). Of course that did not happen. Hopefully, those few moderate Muslims that are well integrated (even assimilated) in French society have not faced any sort of retaliation (well, indeed the only discrimination and attacks that they suffer come from non-moderate, non-integrated Muslims and the far-left that see them as traitors to "their community"). But unfortunately, those non-integrated, strict or radical Muslims that hate us so much have not seen any sort of retaliation either...

OK, enough with my "old-white-straight-privileged man disconnected from progress" speech, let's talk about the film. The film is rather intense, it portrays well the tension and efforts of the French counter-terrorism to neutralize those blood thirsty beasts. I like a lot how it represents an arrested Islamist (that was not involved in this attack) as someone totally crazy with hatred for all infidels, and I also quite enjoyed the confrontation with a neo-nazi bastard in prison that is suspected of having sold weapons to the terrorists. That's purely fictional, as far as it's known the criminal networks from which the terrorists got their weapons did not involve neo-nazis, and indeed, regardless of how mentally sick neo-nazis can be (and regardless of the very good relations between "the original" nazis in the 30's-40's and Muslim groups) it's very, very forced to envision a French neo-nazi (that by the way, we are talking about a micro-minority of maybe 100-200 scumbags) selling weapons to an Islamist. That said, this idiot says something I could not agree more:

Those deaths were not caused by my weapons, but by 50 years of shitty policies. On Friday, the army should have taken action, dropping Napalm over the banlieus.

Regarding the fictional elements in the film:

Director Cédric Jimenez has taken creative liberties to dramatize certain aspects of the story. Reviews indicate that Novembre is not a strict documentary but rather a dramatization that incorporates fictionalized characters and scenarios to enhance the narrative.

The most interesting character in these events (and I mean not just in the film, but in the real events) is a young woman of Maghrebian origin (known in the film as Samia Khelouf, and in real life under the pseudonym Sonia) that had been hosting in her flat for some months another young woman (a bitch named Hasna) that happened to be the cousin of the main brain after the attacks (Abaaoud) and had helped him to find a hide-out in Saint Denis. Sonia contacted the police to explain the situation and utterly helped them to find the terrorists. The film shows how the police treated her with a lot of distrust and disdain and was about to abandon her after all her help (obviously this woman needs a new identity to avoid retaliation from other Terrorists or just from other Muslims that will see her as a "traitor"). Hopefully, eventually she has received some support from the French authorities, that have treated her a bit better than de Gaulle treated Harkis (those Algerians that fought on the French side during the Algeria war and that de Gaulle abandoned in an incomprehensible display of dishonor and inhumanity). And now, the film director decided to spit on her face, by depicting her in the film (as Samia) wearing an Islamic veil, that is something that she had never done in her life and that she is up against! Of course, for our progressist world showing us a devote Muslim (because that's what a veiled woman is) that is willing to collaborate with "the French" denouncing the terrorists is very, very cool, but the problem is that it's very, very unrealistic... I've asked Claude.ai some information about this heroic woman.

Who Is "Sonia"?

Sonia was a 40-year-old mother of two living in a Paris suburb. Known for her compassion, she often offered shelter to women in distress. One such woman was Hasna Aït Boulahcen, who turned out to be Abaaoud's cousin. Unbeknownst to Sonia, Hasna was aiding Abaaoud in finding a hideout after the attacks. On November 15, 2015, Sonia accompanied Hasna to meet someone in Aubervilliers. There, she met Abaaoud, who openly admitted his involvement in the attacks and his plans for further violence. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Sonia alerted the authorities, providing crucial information that led to the police raid in Saint-Denis on November 18, where Abaaoud and his accomplices were killed.

Following her brave actions, Sonia entered a witness protection program, adopting a new identity and relocating to ensure her safety. Despite her heroism, she faced significant challenges, including feelings of abandonment by the state and difficulties in securing employment due to her concealed identity. Her story was later co-authored with journalist Claire Andrieux in the book Témoin ("Witness"), shedding light on her experiences and the broader implications of the attacks.

Portrayal in Novembre and Legal Action
In Novembre, Sonia's character is renamed Samia Khelouf and depicted wearing an Islamic veil, which Sonia does not wear in real life. Feeling misrepresented, she pursued legal action against the filmmakers. The dispute was amicably resolved, resulting in a disclaimer added to the film clarifying that the character is a fictionalized portrayal.

Sonia's story is a testament to individual courage and the profound impact one person can have in the face of terror.

At the end of the film we can read this text:

Le port du voile islamique par le personnage de Samia Khelouf répond à un choix de fiction qui ne reflète pas ses convictions personnelles

And now let me stress some of the information provided by Claude.ai: she faced significant challenges, including feelings of abandonment by the state and difficulties in securing employment due to her concealed identity.

In France there are several millions of people living on all sort of social aids, quite a few of them not having worked a single day in their lives, many of them professing a profound hatred for the French Nation and the French People, and many of them having perpetrated different kinds of crimes (from petty crimes to murder, rape, etc). Also, there are many thousands of Algerians (or Algerians with a French passport) that were entitled to a French retirement payment and that having been dead for years (or decades), their families in Algeria (that have "forgotten" to inform the Government about the decease) continue to receive that payment. And with such a generous welfare system, the French state thinks that a woman that has risked her life for France and the French People does not deserve to be granted a decent for-life payment that will make her new life a bit easier!!!