6:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025

Cinema Nights at the Museum: Chronicles of the Years of Fire

In-person at AANM
Free with RSVP; Register here

Cinema Nights at the Museum rounds out this year with a screening of the brilliant, classic 1975 film, Chronicles of the Years of Fire (WAQAI SANAWAT AL-DJAMR), directed by the late Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina. Lakhdar-Hamina, who passed away earlier this year, was the first African and first Arab filmmaker to win the Palm d’Or award from the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 1975. The film celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

About Chronicles of the Years of Fire

A sweeping saga of the Algerian Revolution told in six chapters, spanning the period from the Second World War to the War of Independence. The film focuses on a poor farmer, Ahmad, who leaves his barren, drought-stricken village only to be drafted into the French army during WWII; years later, he becomes passionately involved in the struggle to break his country free from the yoke of French colonialism. Often compared to The Battle of Algiers, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina’s anti-colonialist epic succeeds profoundly in the director’s stated intention: “I tried to recount, with dignity and nobility, this uprising that then became the Algerian Revolution[:] an uprising not only against the colonizer but against a certain human condition.” (TIFF).

The film is regarded as a masterpiece of Arab cinema and remains the only Arab film to have won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Please note that this film has been presented using the best available elements from its original theatrical run and some images/subtitles may not be as clear as modern-made films. Please also note that this film’s runtime is approximately 3 hours. We will do a brief intermission halfway through.

Algeria/Narrative/177 minutes/1975/Directed by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina/In Arabic with English Subtitles/In-Person Screening

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