Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina
Encyclopedia
Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina is an Algeria
n film director
. He is best known for his 1975 film Chronicle of the Years of Embers. He is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Arabic cinema.
, the Czech academy for cinema and television. However, he quit his studies in order to work for the Barrandov Studios. In 1960 he joined the Service Cinema, created by the Algerian government in exile. In 1959, the Algerian ministry of information in exile commissioned Lakhdar-Hamina, together with Djamel Chanderli and Pierre Chaulet, to produce a movie about Algeria’s predicament under French colonialism. The documentary film, titled Djazzaïrouna (Our Algeria), aimed at portraying the goals pursued by the Algerian nationalist guerrilla movement, the Maquis. In 1961, Lakhdar-Hamina collaborated with Chanderli in the movie Yasmina, which tells the story of a refugee girl who must flee her village following its destruction. Lakhdar-Hamina collaborated again with Chanderli in the 1962 The people’s voice and 1961 The guns of freedom. Upon Algerian independence in 1962, he returned to his homeland where, together with his colleagues from Tunisian exile, he founded the Office des actualités algériennes, of
which he was director from 1963 until its dissolution in 1974. From 1981 until 1984 he acted as director of the Office National pour le Commerce et l’Industrie Cinématographique.
In this context, Lakhdar-Hamina’s cinematographic career has significantly contributed to the development of a new filmic language characteristic of contemporary Maghrebi
cinema in general and Algerian in particular, notably distinct from the filmic experiences of other Arab countries and most particularly of the Egyptian cinematic industry.
Following Algeria’s independence, Algerian cinema focused on new artistic forms concerned with the search for national identity, but financial difficulties and the lack of an Algerian industry made this task all the more challenging.
North American audiences have remained for the most part unaware of Algeria
’s cinematographic experience. Following the nationalization of Algeria’s film industry in June 1969, the American Motion Pictures Export Association of America (MPEAA
) called for a boycott of all Algerian productions.
Since its inception, Algerian cinema developed a clearly anti-imperialistic stance. In this regard, Algerian cinematographers in general and Lakhdar-Hamina in particular have remained deeply committed to the ideological tenets of the nonaligned movement
and Third-worldism
.
In December 1973, African, Latin American, and Asian filmmakers gathered in Algiers
for the first meeting of the Third World Cinema Committee, which became an effort to build an independent Third World cinematographic movement.
Lakhdar-Hamina’s first films explore issues of national identity and the search for the Self in the context of postcolonial emancipation. In 1963, he wrote the script and dialogue for the film Under Neptune’s sign. In 1965 he released his first long movie, The Winds of the Aures
. The movie portrayed the story of an Algerian woman in search of her imprisoned sons during the Algerian war of independence.
The Winds of the Aures received the Best First Work Award at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival
and was nominated for the Golden Palm. It was also nominated for the Grand Prix at the 1967 Moscow International Film Festival
. It may be considered in its own right the foundational stone of contemporary Algeria cinema. In The Winds of the Aures, Lakhdar-Hamina portrays with painstaking detail the disintegration of a peasant society marred by the structural violence of colonial occupation. The movie is clearly influenced by Soviet cinema
and aesthetics
, particularly that of Soviet Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko
. The director adeptly translated this influence to an Algerian scenario.
The Winds of the Aures consecrated Algerian cinema in the international scene. Lakhdar-Hamina’s following movie, Hassan Terro, explored in a comical manner the tragedy of Algeria’s
war of independence by portraying the misadventures of its main character, a bourgeois character trapped in the midst of the Algerian revolution.
His third movie December, released in 1972, explores the issue of torture
. The movie narrated the case of a French officer troubled by the violent acts of torture perpetrated by the French army against members of the FLN
.
Chronicle of the Years of Embers
(1974), however, is Lakhdar-Hamina’s most important work. In 1975, he achieved worldwide recognition when the movie was awarded the Golden Palm at Cannes. The film, which offers a personal vision of the Algerian revolution, traces the evolution of the revolutionary movement from 1939 until the beginnings of the 1954 insurrection against the French.
To this day, Chronicle of the Years of Embers remains the only African and Arab film to have been awarded the Golden Palm at Cannes. The movie is divided into six sections: "The Years of
Ashes," "The Years of Embers", "The Years of Fire", "The Year of the Cart", "The Year of the Massacre" and "1 November 1954", a date that marks the beginning of the Algerian revolution and of the war of independence.
It tells the story of an Algerian peasant, Ahmad, who flees his village to escape famine and drought. The film presents violence as an unavoidable stage in the conflict between colonizer and colonized; in this regard, Lakhdar-Hamina chose to focus on the predicament of Algerian peasant communities and emphasized the gap that separated the rural Algerian peasantry from the wealthy French colonists. One of the movie’s main message appears to be that, just as violence begets more violence, so colonialism can only be fought through a violent uprising. The transformation of Ahmad from illiterate peasant to revolutionary leader symbolizes the maturation of an independent national consciousness aimed at national liberation. From a cinematographic point of
view, Chronicle makes use of camera techniques that emphasize feelings of uprootedness, deprivation, and suffering caused by a colonial system of exploitation. Characteristically, Lakhdar-Hamina has consistently chosen to portray the ideological debates surrounding the construction of a national identity amidst the violent struggle against colonial domination through the representation
of a national collective represented by single heroic characters, such as Ahmad, or typical antiheroes such as Hassan Terro. Equally, the prominence of the peasant world in Lakhdar-Hamina’s filmography seems to consecrate rural life as one of the most important scenarios in the construction of national identity. This mythification of the Algerian peasantry as a repository of national pride and resistance would eventually be transformed during the 1980s, when Algerian cinema became more concerned with urban characters and focused on the crisis of postcolonial conflicts.
In Sand storm
, released in 1982, Lakhdar-Hamina portrays the life of an isolated rural community fragmented by violence. It tells the story of Amara, a man whose wife gives birth to their eighth daughter; unable to withstand the dishonor of not fathering a son, Amara plans a revenge. The plot allows Lakhdar-Hamina to explore the difficult terrain of gender relations and gender violence.
His most recent movie, The last image, was part of the Official Selection at Cannes Film Festival in 1986 and was nominated for the Golden Palm.
Lakhdar-Hamina’s son, Malik Lakhdar-Hamina, became well known after the release of his first long film, Autumn: October in Algiers (1992), a film that explores the riots of October 1988 through the microcosm of an Algerian family split by a Westernized versus Islamicized view of contemporary Algeria. His other son, Tariq Lakhdar-Hamina, is a film producer. A polemic figure, Lakhdar-Hamina has been occasionally accused of mismanagement and nepotism in his filmic productions.
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. He is best known for his 1975 film Chronicle of the Years of Embers. He is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Arabic cinema.
Biography
Born on 26 February 1934 at M’Sila, Algeria, Lakhdar began his studies in his native country. He first became interested in the world of cinema at the Lycée Carnot in Cannes, France. After beginning studies of agriculture and law at French universities, he deserted the French army in 1958 and joined the anti-French Algerian resistance in Tunisia, where he worked for the provisional Algerian government in exile. His film career began as he joined the Algerian Maquis (guerrillas). In 1959, the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) sent him to Prague, where he pursued his cinematography studies at the cinema school, Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in PragueFilm and TV School of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
The Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague or FAMU is one of the oldest film schools in Europe. Located in Prague, Czech Republic, FAMU was founded in 1946 as one of three branches of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague...
, the Czech academy for cinema and television. However, he quit his studies in order to work for the Barrandov Studios. In 1960 he joined the Service Cinema, created by the Algerian government in exile. In 1959, the Algerian ministry of information in exile commissioned Lakhdar-Hamina, together with Djamel Chanderli and Pierre Chaulet, to produce a movie about Algeria’s predicament under French colonialism. The documentary film, titled Djazzaïrouna (Our Algeria), aimed at portraying the goals pursued by the Algerian nationalist guerrilla movement, the Maquis. In 1961, Lakhdar-Hamina collaborated with Chanderli in the movie Yasmina, which tells the story of a refugee girl who must flee her village following its destruction. Lakhdar-Hamina collaborated again with Chanderli in the 1962 The people’s voice and 1961 The guns of freedom. Upon Algerian independence in 1962, he returned to his homeland where, together with his colleagues from Tunisian exile, he founded the Office des actualités algériennes, of
which he was director from 1963 until its dissolution in 1974. From 1981 until 1984 he acted as director of the Office National pour le Commerce et l’Industrie Cinématographique.
Influences and Contributions
From its inception, Algerian cinema was intertwined with the ideological and existential debates that surrounded the Algerian war of independence and the postcolonial nation-building stage.In this context, Lakhdar-Hamina’s cinematographic career has significantly contributed to the development of a new filmic language characteristic of contemporary Maghrebi
Maghreb people
Maghrebis or Maghrebian people or Maghrebians are the inhabitants of the Maghreb countries . During Al-Andalus, Maghrebis were known as Moors.-Origins:...
cinema in general and Algerian in particular, notably distinct from the filmic experiences of other Arab countries and most particularly of the Egyptian cinematic industry.
Following Algeria’s independence, Algerian cinema focused on new artistic forms concerned with the search for national identity, but financial difficulties and the lack of an Algerian industry made this task all the more challenging.
North American audiences have remained for the most part unaware of Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
’s cinematographic experience. Following the nationalization of Algeria’s film industry in June 1969, the American Motion Pictures Export Association of America (MPEAA
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
) called for a boycott of all Algerian productions.
Since its inception, Algerian cinema developed a clearly anti-imperialistic stance. In this regard, Algerian cinematographers in general and Lakhdar-Hamina in particular have remained deeply committed to the ideological tenets of the nonaligned movement
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...
and Third-worldism
Third-worldism
Third-worldism is a tendency within left-wing political thought to regard the division between developed countries, and developing countries or "Third World" nations against the background of primary political importance...
.
In December 1973, African, Latin American, and Asian filmmakers gathered in Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
for the first meeting of the Third World Cinema Committee, which became an effort to build an independent Third World cinematographic movement.
Lakhdar-Hamina’s first films explore issues of national identity and the search for the Self in the context of postcolonial emancipation. In 1963, he wrote the script and dialogue for the film Under Neptune’s sign. In 1965 he released his first long movie, The Winds of the Aures
The Winds of the Aures
The Winds of the Aures is a 1966 Algerian war film directed by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina. It was entered into the 1967 Cannes Film Festival where it won the award for Best First Work.-Cast:* Keltoum - Mother* Mohamed Chouikh - Lakhdar...
. The movie portrayed the story of an Algerian woman in search of her imprisoned sons during the Algerian war of independence.
The Winds of the Aures received the Best First Work Award at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
and was nominated for the Golden Palm. It was also nominated for the Grand Prix at the 1967 Moscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival , is the film festival first held in Moscow in 1959. From its inception to 1995 it was held every second year in July, alternating with the Karlovy Vary festival. The festival has been held annually since 1995....
. It may be considered in its own right the foundational stone of contemporary Algeria cinema. In The Winds of the Aures, Lakhdar-Hamina portrays with painstaking detail the disintegration of a peasant society marred by the structural violence of colonial occupation. The movie is clearly influenced by Soviet cinema
Cinema of the Soviet Union
The cinema of the Soviet Union, not to be confused with "Cinema of Russia" despite Russian language films being predominant in both genres, includes several film contributions of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history,...
and aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
, particularly that of Soviet Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko
Alexander Dovzhenko
Aleksandr Petrovich Dovzhenko , was a Soviet screenwriter, film producer and director of Ukrainian descent. He is often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin.- Biography :...
. The director adeptly translated this influence to an Algerian scenario.
The Winds of the Aures consecrated Algerian cinema in the international scene. Lakhdar-Hamina’s following movie, Hassan Terro, explored in a comical manner the tragedy of Algeria’s
war of independence by portraying the misadventures of its main character, a bourgeois character trapped in the midst of the Algerian revolution.
His third movie December, released in 1972, explores the issue of torture
Torture during the Algerian War
Elements of the French Armed Forces as well as of the opposing Algerian National Liberation Front made use of torture during the Algerian War of Independence , creating an ongoing public controversy. Pierre Vidal-Naquet estimates that there were "possibly hundreds of thousands of instances of...
. The movie narrated the case of a French officer troubled by the violent acts of torture perpetrated by the French army against members of the FLN
FLN
FLN may refer to:* One of a number of organisations named National Liberation Front* The National Liberation Front * The National Liberation Front * The National Liberation Front of Chad...
.
Chronicle of the Years of Embers
Chronicle of the Years of Fire
Chronicle of the Years of Fire is a 1975 film directed by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina. It depicts the Algerian War of Independence as seen through the eyes of a peasant.The film won the Palme d'Or prize at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:...
(1974), however, is Lakhdar-Hamina’s most important work. In 1975, he achieved worldwide recognition when the movie was awarded the Golden Palm at Cannes. The film, which offers a personal vision of the Algerian revolution, traces the evolution of the revolutionary movement from 1939 until the beginnings of the 1954 insurrection against the French.
To this day, Chronicle of the Years of Embers remains the only African and Arab film to have been awarded the Golden Palm at Cannes. The movie is divided into six sections: "The Years of
Ashes," "The Years of Embers", "The Years of Fire", "The Year of the Cart", "The Year of the Massacre" and "1 November 1954", a date that marks the beginning of the Algerian revolution and of the war of independence.
It tells the story of an Algerian peasant, Ahmad, who flees his village to escape famine and drought. The film presents violence as an unavoidable stage in the conflict between colonizer and colonized; in this regard, Lakhdar-Hamina chose to focus on the predicament of Algerian peasant communities and emphasized the gap that separated the rural Algerian peasantry from the wealthy French colonists. One of the movie’s main message appears to be that, just as violence begets more violence, so colonialism can only be fought through a violent uprising. The transformation of Ahmad from illiterate peasant to revolutionary leader symbolizes the maturation of an independent national consciousness aimed at national liberation. From a cinematographic point of
view, Chronicle makes use of camera techniques that emphasize feelings of uprootedness, deprivation, and suffering caused by a colonial system of exploitation. Characteristically, Lakhdar-Hamina has consistently chosen to portray the ideological debates surrounding the construction of a national identity amidst the violent struggle against colonial domination through the representation
of a national collective represented by single heroic characters, such as Ahmad, or typical antiheroes such as Hassan Terro. Equally, the prominence of the peasant world in Lakhdar-Hamina’s filmography seems to consecrate rural life as one of the most important scenarios in the construction of national identity. This mythification of the Algerian peasantry as a repository of national pride and resistance would eventually be transformed during the 1980s, when Algerian cinema became more concerned with urban characters and focused on the crisis of postcolonial conflicts.
In Sand storm
Sand Storm
Sand Storm is a 1992 action game in which you are shooting an anti-air ballistic weapon. The premise of the game is similar to that of Sabotage. You must defend your home base from planes , Patriot Missiles, and Scuds. If a missile or bomb touches the ground, some of the buildings in the base are...
, released in 1982, Lakhdar-Hamina portrays the life of an isolated rural community fragmented by violence. It tells the story of Amara, a man whose wife gives birth to their eighth daughter; unable to withstand the dishonor of not fathering a son, Amara plans a revenge. The plot allows Lakhdar-Hamina to explore the difficult terrain of gender relations and gender violence.
His most recent movie, The last image, was part of the Official Selection at Cannes Film Festival in 1986 and was nominated for the Golden Palm.
Lakhdar-Hamina’s son, Malik Lakhdar-Hamina, became well known after the release of his first long film, Autumn: October in Algiers (1992), a film that explores the riots of October 1988 through the microcosm of an Algerian family split by a Westernized versus Islamicized view of contemporary Algeria. His other son, Tariq Lakhdar-Hamina, is a film producer. A polemic figure, Lakhdar-Hamina has been occasionally accused of mismanagement and nepotism in his filmic productions.
Films presented at Cannes
| Year | Title | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 1986 Cannes Film Festival - Jury :*Sydney Pollack*Alexandre Mnouchkine*Alexandre Trauner*Charles Aznavour*Danièle Thompson*István Szabó*Lino Brocka*Philip French*Sonia Braga*Tonino Delli Colli-Feature film competition:* After Hours by Martin Scorsese... |
La dernière image La dernière image La dernière image is a 1986 Algerian drama film directed by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina. It was entered into the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Véronique Jannot - Claire Boyer* Merwan Lakhdar-Hamina - Mouloud* Michel Boujenah - Simon Attal... |
Director Script and Dialogue |
| 1982 1982 Cannes Film Festival - Jury :*Giorgio Strehler *Jean-Jacques Annaud *Suso Cecchi d'Amico *Geraldine Chaplin *Gabriel García Márquez *Florian Hopf *Sidney Lumet *Mrinal Sen... |
Vent de sable | Director Script and Dialogue |
| 1975 1975 Cannes Film Festival - Jury :*Jeanne Moreau, President, actress*André Delvaux, director*Anthony Burgess, writer*Fernando Rey, actor*George Roy Hill, director*Gérard Ducaux-Rupp, producer*Léa Massari, actress*Pierre Mazars, journalist*Pierre Salinger, writer... |
Chronique des années de braise (Chronicle of the Years of Fire Chronicle of the Years of Fire Chronicle of the Years of Fire is a 1975 film directed by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina. It depicts the Algerian War of Independence as seen through the eyes of a peasant.The film won the Palme d'Or prize at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:... ) |
Director Script and Dialogue |
| 1967 1967 Cannes Film Festival -Jury:*Alessandro Blasetti *Georges Lourau *Sergei Bondarchuk *René Bonnell *Jean-Louis Bory *Miklós Jancsó *Claude Lelouch *Shirley MacLaine... |
Le vent des Aurès (Rih al awras) |
Director Script and Dialogue Cinematography |
| 1963 1963 Cannes Film Festival -Jury:*Armand Salacrou *Rouben Mamoulian *Jacqueline Audry *Wilfrid Baumgartner *François Chavane *Jean De Baroncelli *Robert Hossein... |
Sous le signe de Neptune | Script and Dialogue |
Awards
- 1975: Palme d'OrPalme d'OrThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
CHRONIQUE DES ANNÉES DE BRAISE, Long métrage - 1967: Prix de la premiere oeuvre LE VENT DES AURES, Long métrage