Director Lakhdar Hamina dies on the day he won the Palme d'Or

The Algerian Ministry of Culture and Arts announced that film director and producer Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina died on Friday, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of his winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his iconic film "Chronicle of the Years of Embers."

The ministry said in a statement, "With his passing, Algeria has lost a towering artistic figure and a pioneering director who dedicated his life to committed art and enriched the national memory with immortal works that embodied the struggle of a people, the concerns of a nation, and the beauty of the authentic cinematic image."

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune also mourned him, saying, "Before he was a creative international director who left an indelible mark on the history of world cinema, he was a proud freedom fighter. He contributed to the liberation of his country through his images and scenes, introducing humanity to the heroism of the victorious liberation revolution."

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Who is the Algerian director Lakhdar Hamina? Hamina was born in the eastern Algerian city of M'Sila in 1934 and studied law in France before being conscripted into the French army. He deserted and in 1959 joined the media cell of the Algerian interim government, which was then based in Tunis.

He traveled to Prague to study cinema and then returned to begin making a series of documentaries about the Algerian War of Independence, including (Voice of the People) and (Guns of Freedom).

After Algeria's independence, Hamina headed the Algerian News Agency, which was founded in 1963. However, his position did not prevent him from continuing his cinematic career, as he presented his first feature film, "The Wind of the Aures," in 1966, which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

He won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival on this day in 1975 for his film (Chronicle of the Years of Embers), which dealt with the political and social conditions in Algeria between 1939 and 1954.