The Algerian filmmaker Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, known for his 1975 dramatic work
Annals of the Scorching Years
(
Annals of the Fiery Times
He who won the Cannes’ Palme d’Or in 1975 passed away at the age of 91.
He was the eldest person alive to have received the Palme d’Or.
Annals of the Fiery Times
It remains Africa’s sole Palme d’Or to this very day.
Lakhdar Hammami’s family announced that the filmmaker passed away at his residence in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria, on May 23rd. Interestingly enough,
Cannes Film Festival
screened
Annals of the Fiery Times
During its Cannes Classics segment that day, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the film winning the Palme d’Or.
The film, set between 1939 and 1954, revisits the Algerian War of Independence from the perspective of a humble farm laborer, illustrating the brutality of French colonial governance.
Lakhdar-Hamina attempted to win the Palme d’Or four times, with
The Gales of the Aures
, which received the award for best debut film in 1967, as well as
Sandstorm
(1982) and
Last Image
(1986).
Following a three-decade hiatus, Lakhdar-Hamina directed again.
Twilight of Shadows
, which served as Algeria’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 88th
Academy Awards
in 2016.
Hamina was born on February 26, 1934, in M’Sila within the Aurès area of northeastern Algeria. He pursued his studies in the southern French town of Antibes.
During the Algerian War, his father endured torture and death at the hands of the French military. In 1958, he was drafted into the French army but chose instead to desert and align himself with the Algerian resistance in Tunis, where he completed an apprenticeship in journalism. From just after the revolution until 1974, he managed Algeria’s news agency, known as l’Office des Actualités Algériennes (OAA). Additionally, between 1981 and 1984, he held the position of director at the Algerian National Office for Trade and Cinema.
The French distribution company Les Acacias Distribution plans to re-release
Annals of the Fiery Times
In theaters in France starting from August 6th.
