French Algeria. Farmer Ahmed, who witnessed acute famine and drought under colonial rule in the 1930s, experiences a political awakening. Over the next decades, he becomes progressively involved in the resistance movement. His struggle reflects the resilience of a nation on the cusp of independence.

With this landmark epic, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina became the first—and remains the only—African director to win the Palme d’Or. Fueled by colonial violence inflicted on Algerian soil and its people, revolutionary fervor is depicted not as a singular blaze, but a roaring inferno of collective rage.