
Financial support was granted by the CNC. Production was led by Why Not Productions with Armada Films and France 3 as co-producers. The financing coincided with the revelation of the Algerian army's possible involvement in the incident, which once again sparked an interest for the story from media and the public. Īctors Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival The script was later sent to relatives of the deceased monks, most of whom reacted positively to the project. Franco-American monastic consultant Henry Quinson was asked to correct and add historical and liturgical content for further authenticity.

Some inspiration was taken from writings by two of the Tibhirine monks, Christian de Chergé and Christophe Lebreton. The two researched, met with theologians, and during a break Beauvois chose to live for six days at the Tamié Abbey in Savoie. Comar contacted Xavier Beauvois in 2008 after having written a draft, and together they continued to work on the screenplay. Comar, a film producer by profession and a Catholic, had been fascinated by the monks since the earliest news of the abduction, but felt that their death had overshadowed what he thought was really interesting: why they had decided to stay in Algeria despite the ongoing Algerian Civil War. The film project was initiated by Etienne Comar in 2006, when the tenth anniversary of the incident made it a topic again in French media. Kiser's The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria. Ī scholarly book on the events was published in 2002, John W. However, according to documents from French secret services, it is possible that the killings were a mistake carried out by the Algerian army during a rescue attempt.
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The Armed Islamic Group of Algeria claimed full responsibility for the incident. In 1996, seven French Trappist monks from the monastery of Tibhirine, Algeria, were kidnapped and found beheaded. As the captive monks trudge a snowy path towards a grim fate, the film concludes with the spiritual testament of Prior Christian de Chergé, bravely written in the face of death. Ultimately, the terrorists seize most of the monks during a nighttime raid and hold them hostage. Despite the growing danger, the monks come to consensus on the moral importance of maintaining their committed lives with, and ministry to, the local population, even when faced with violence and death. With a mixture of surprise and respect, Fayattia leaves the compound and grants it his protection until his capture, torture and death at the hands of government forces. Christian refuses their requests and cites the Quran as proof of the monks' goodwill. Before a decision is reached, a group of fundamentalists, led by Ali Fayattia, enters the monks' compound in force on Christmas Eve and demands their doctor and his medical supplies.

When their elected leader, Christian ( Lambert Wilson), declines the protection of the corrupt civil authority, the monks divide amongst themselves on the question of whether to stay or flee Algeria. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes." ( Psalm 82:6–7) The monks' peaceful routine of prayer, medical assistance, and community interaction is soon interrupted by the threat of an Islamic fundamentalist group. The film opens with a quotation from the Book of Psalms: "I have said, Ye are gods and all of you are children of the most High. It became a critical and commercial success in its domestic market, and won both the Lumières Award and César Award for Best Film. The film premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Grand Prix, the festival's second most prestigious award. Principal photography took place at an abandoned monastery in Azrou, Morocco. Largely a tale of a peaceful situation between local Christians and Muslims before becoming a lethal one due to external forces, the screenplay focuses on the preceding chain of events in decay of government, expansion of terrorism, and the monks' confrontation with both the terrorists and the government authorities that led up to their deaths. It centers on the monastery of Tibhirine, where nine Cistercian monks lived in harmony with the largely Muslim population of Algeria, until seven of them were kidnapped and assassinated in 1996 during the Algerian Civil War.

Its original French language title is Des hommes et des dieux, which means "Of Men and of Gods" and refers to a verse from the Bible shown at the beginning of the film. Of Gods and Men ( French: Des hommes et des dieux) is a 2010 French drama film directed by Xavier Beauvois, starring Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale.
