Death Squadrons, The French School

A film by Marie-Monique Robin

- "Laurier" for Best Political Documentary of 2003, awarded by the Club Audiovisuel de Paris, 2004

- Prize for Best Investigation at the Festival International du Grand Reportage d'Actualité, 2004

- Award of Merit in Film from the Latin American Studies Association- Las Vegas/USA, 2004

- Award for Best Film from the Egyptian Film Critics Association

- Jury Prize from the Ismailia International Festival for Documentary and Short Films, 2004

A unique event in the history of mankind : in 1975 the dictatorial governments of the Southern hemisphere established a supranational criminal organisation, whose mission was the extermination of all political opponents, both in their countries and abroad. Named "Operation Condor" in homage to the bird of prey and symbol of Chile, the secret organisation was led by general Manuel Contreras, head of the secret police DINA: a creation of Augusto Pinochet, who had overthrown the socialist president Salvador Allende in September 1973.

The CIA's crucial support of the Operation Condor and its leaders is an open secret today. The same applies to the general history of U.S. intervention in Latin America, especially intense during the Cold War, when the priority of the White House was the eradication of "communist subversion".

Less known, however, is the role the French military played in the genesis of this murderous operation on a spectacular scale.