He was the oldest living Cannes Grand Prix laureate, and his film remains the only one in African film history to receive this award.

Lakdar-Hamina's family reported that the director died on May 23rd at his home in the Algerian capital. Notably, on the same day at the Cannes Film Festival, as part of the "Cannese Classics" program, a screening of the "Chronicle of the Fiery Years" was held in honor of the 50th anniversary of its victory.

The action unfolds between 1939 and 1954 and tells the story of the Algerian War for Independence through the eyes of a peasant, showing the severity of the French colonial regime.

Lakdar-Hamina participated in the main competition of the Cannes Festival four times. His film "Ores's Winds" won the best debut award in 1967. Later, he presented "The Sandstorm" (1982) and "The Last Image" (1986). After a 30-year hiatus, he directed The Twilight of Shadows, which became the official Algerian nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2016 (88th ceremony).

Mohammed Laqdar-Hamina was born on February 26, 1934, in the city of M'Sila in the Ores region in north-eastern Algeria. He studied in the French city of Antibes.