Chronicle of the Years of Fire

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Chronicle of the Years of Fire
Original film poster
Directed byMohammed Lakhdar-Hamina
Written byRachid Boudjedra
Tewfik Fares
Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina
StarringYorgo Voyagis
Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina
Hadj Smaine Mohamed Seghir
Leila Shenna
CinematographyMarcello Gatti
Distributed byArab Film Distribution
Release date
  • 26 November 1975 (1975-11-26)
Running time
177 minutes
CountryAlgeria
LanguagesAlgerian Arabic
French

Chronicle of the Years of Fire (Arabic: وقائع سنين الجمر, romanizedWaqāʾiʿu sinīna l-jamri; French: Chronique des Années de Braise; these names both mean "Chronicle of the Years of Embers") is a 1975 Algerian drama historical 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.[1] It was also selected as the Algerian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 48th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[2]

Synopsis[edit]

The film is composed of 6 chapters: The Years of Ash, The Years of Embers, The Years of Fire, The Year of the Cart, The Year of the Charge, and November 1, 1954.

The story of the film begins in 1939 and ends on November 11, 1954. Through historical milestones, it demonstrates that the Red All Saints' Day on November 1, 1954 (the start of the Algerian War), is not a historical accident but the culmination of a long process of suffering and struggles, initially political and later military, undertaken by the Algerian people against the fait accompli of French colonization, which began with a landing at Sidi-Ferruch on June 14, 1830.

Cast[edit]

Reception[edit]

Mark Cousins, writing for The Guardian, named it one of the ten best African films ever made. He said that "if our movie memories weren't so Hollywood-skewed, we'd think of [it] as a classic".[3]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Chronicle of the Years of Fire". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
  2. ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  3. ^ Cousins, Mark (2012-09-03). "African cinema: ten of the best". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-06-29.

External links[edit]