Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina

Chronicle of the Years of Fire

Chronicle of the Years of Fire (1975), directed by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, follows Ahmed, an Algerian peasant, across seventeen years leading to the 1954 uprising against French rule. Structured in six chapters, it charts the slow, embodied formation of national consciousness under colonialism — through drought, conscription, broken promises and massacre. Shot by Marcello Gatti and scored by Philippe Arthuys, it favours duration over drama, collective experience over individual psychology. It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and remains a landmark of postcolonial cinema.