Initially banned in France, the first release of the film on French screens dates from 1970 and was accompanied by numerous threats and pressure, going as far as attacks perpetrated against cinemas.

The film serves as a model of theoretical instruction in military and technical schools, to understand the logic of guerrilla warfare in an urban environment.

Others say that the director Gillo Pontecorvo, seated on the terrace of the "Tantonville" café in the Algerian capital, saw Hadjadj passing-by, by chance, and offered him the role.

In these assumptions, the most important thing is that Gillo Pontecorvo found the naturalness, spontaneity and grace that he was looking for in Brahim, the dark brunette, for his reality cinema film that he wanted to be as close as possible to documentary.

Hadjadj, then without an agent to manage his career, rarely punctually, gave rise to serious doubts in the production company which considered him risky and not very rigorous for such a substantial project.

Brahim Hadjadj continued his career according to the proposals made to him, including Luchino Visconti in 1967 in "L'Étranger", in 1969 in "L'Opium Et Le Bâton" by Ahmed Rachedi, in the role of Omar, in 1971 in "Patrouille À l'Est" by Amar Laskri, in 1974 Ahmed Rachedi in "The Finger in the Gear", in 1975 Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina in the cult "Chronique Des Années De Braise", in 1986 he is Si Omar in "The Roaring Years of the Twist" by Mahmoud Zemmouri...

Years later, the face and name of Brahim Hadjadj are still deeply engraved in the collective memory of Algerians and moviegoers around the world who praise his performance in "The Battle of Algiers", notably in numerous YouTube vlogs and podcasts specializing in cinema.

In the bonus documentary "Five Directors On The Battle of Algiers", released in 2004 in the restored DVD reissue of "The Battle of Algiers", Oliver Stone, Spike Oliver, Steven Soderbergh, Mira Nair and Julian Schnabel praise the performance of Brahim Hadjadj and explains how the film Gillo Pontecorvo influenced their own work and careers.