Guardians of the Atlas-Frere Luc, Moine de Tibhirine (2006)

Directed by: Silvère Lang | 27 minutes | documentary

Understandably, the media couldn’t get enough of it in the 1990s: the dramatic story of the Trappists who lived in peace with their Muslim fellow villagers in an Algerian monastery, until a horrific act of terrorism put an end to it. The seven monks were kidnapped on the night of March 26-27, 1996 and beheaded after two months in prison. More than a decade later, the shock of this event has subsided somewhat, but thanks to Xavier Beauvois’s feature film ‘Des hommes et des dieux’, which sublimely portrays the lead-up to the terrible crime, there is renewed interest in history. . The film won, among other things, the Grand Prix Award at the Cannes Film Festival and was a candidate for the Oscar for best foreign film. Before ‘Des hommes et des dieux’ there was already a documentary that provided insight into the life and death of the monks. In ‘Des hommes et des dieux’ the focus is mainly on Father Christian, who fulfills the function of superior. In the documentary ‘Watchmen of the Atlas’ (‘Frere Luc, Moine de Tibhirine’) brother Luc, doctor, is central.

Filmmaker Sylvère Lang chose to put only one of the monks in the limelight, because the running time would be too long if he paid attention to each of the brothers. In addition, he has an interesting main character with Brother Luc: the monk was 82 years old when he was kidnapped and had lived in the monastery since 1946 – the longest of all. The documentary looks back on his life, with archive photos and images, and short interviews with people who met or worked with him. It is fascinating viewing material for those who want to know more about the person and his vocation.