Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle Of Algiers, the legendary re-telling of thestruggle for Algerian independence from France, will be re-released in the USby Rialto Pictures in association with The Classic Collection, a joint ventureof Janus Films and Homevision Entertainment, in January 2004.

The film will open in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago andWashington DC following a special screening at the Pentagon last month and willfeature new prints and subtitles.

The Classic Collection acquired the rights for The Battle OfAlgiers from CasbahFilms of Algiers, the film's original production company, in April.

Shot in the streets of Algiers in documentary style, The BattleOf Algiers recreates thetumultuous Algerian uprising against the occupying French in the late 1950s,depicting the violent methods of both sides.

It was released in 1965 andwent on to win the Grand Prize at the Venice Film Festival and was receivedthree Academy Award nominations.

Despite the acclaim it has been unavailable in the US in any formfor many years and was banned in France because the government took offense toits negative depiction of colonial rule.

This will be thesixth film jointly released by Rialto and The Classic Collection, followingJean Renoir's La Grande Illusion, Vittorio de Sica's Umberto D, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Quai DesOrfevres, JulienDuvivier's Pepe Le Mokoand the upcoming release of Georges Franju's horror film Eyes Without A Face, which opens in New York, Los Angelesand Chicago on Halloween.