Biography
Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina (born in M'sila in 1934) is an Algerian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his 1975 film Chronicle of the Years of Fire. He is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Arabic cinema.
Born in 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 Prague, the Czech academy for cinema and television. However, he quit his studies in order to w