To celebrate the 68th anniversary of the start of the Algerian war of independence, the Lumières association is organizing an exhibition tracing the history of Algerian cinema at the L’Afrique cinema in Algiers.
Entitled 60 years of Algerian cinema, it shows posters of classic films, photographs of famous actors working on film sets and portraits of Keltoum, Rouiched, Abdelhalim Rais, Sidali Kouiret and Sid Ahmed Agoumi.
To accompany these there will be a season of heritage films so audiences can (re)discover Hassan Terro (1968) by Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina, L’opium et le bâton (1971) by Ahmed Rachedi and Chronique des années de braise(1975) by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. Amar Rabia, President of the Lumières association, hopes the exhibition and season of films “will introduce Algerian cinema and these important symbols to younger generations.”
Created in 1998 following the decline of the Algerian film industry, the association’s mission is to promote the national film heritage across the country. Its base is in the heart of Algiers’ former production centre, the Centre Algérien pour l’Art et l’Industrie Cinématographique, where it keeps an archive of film posters, set photographs, reels of film and any object testifying to Algeria’s film-making past.
Sources: El Watan, Algérie Presse Service, 24H
