The Archaeology Channel

In March 2001, two huge Buddha statues were blown up in the remote area of Bamiyantal in Afghanistan. This dramatic event surrounding the ancient stone colossi—unique proof of a high culture that bloomed until the 13th century along the Silk Road—is the starting point for a cinematic essay on fanaticism and faith, terror and tolerance, ignorance and identity. Oscar nominated director Christian Frei's thought-provoking film journeys along a perimeter that both divides and unites people and cultures.

VIEW SHORT VIDEO CLIP:

Play with Windows Media Player:  300k or 700k

Length: 86 min.
Country: Switzerland
Language: English, w/ French Arabic, Chinese
Producer: Christian Frei
Producer Web site: N/A
Distributor: Films Transit International
Distributor Web site: www.filmstransit.com
Copyright: 2005 by Christian Frei and Suissimage

Festival Screenings and Awards:

See Web site, www.giant-buddhas.com/en/festivals/

Chocolate: Pathway to the Gods explores the 3,000 year-old history of a divine substance through ritual and obsession. From Mayan kings who were buried with it to urban professionals who bathe in it, the film begins in ancient Mesoamerica and journeys throughout time to explore the history of chocolate in Europe’s finest chocolate houses where this substance is still revered as one of mankind’s highest expressions of decadence and pleasure. This film also features discoveries by several prominent Mayan archaeologists that substantiate the sacred role of chocolate in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and it captures for the first time an ancient, secret method of processing cacao beans that is still used today by women in rural Oaxaca.

VIEW SHORT VIDEO CLIP:

Play with Windows Media Player:  300k or 700k

Length: 52 min.
Country: USA
Language: English
Producer: Meredith L. Dreiss and Grant Mitchell / ArcheoProductions, Inc.
Producer Web site: www.archeoproductions.com
Distributor: Solid Entertainment
Distributor Web site:www.solidentertainment.com
Copyright: 2005 by ArchaeoProductions, Inc.

Festival Screenings and Awards:

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia
South Florida Science Museum, West Palm Beach
Field Museum Chocolate Exhibit, Chicago
The Foodways Group of Austin
Women and Their Work, Austin
Dell Jewish Community Center, Austin
France 5 TV Station, France

Based on anthropological research conducted over twenty years, this film documents the lives of the Quechua people who live in the shadow of Ausangate, a sacred peak in southeast Peru. Surrounded by the high Andean mountains and alpine lakes, these Quechua people exist in a harsh symbiosis with nature. Faced with the pressures of modernization, these people are increasingly confronted with choices about whether to move to the cities in search of jobs and education, or to continue a traditional lifestyle that has sustained them for centuries.

VIEW SHORT VIDEO CLIP:

Play with Window Media Player:  300k or 700k  

Length: 61 min.
Country: USA
Language: Quechua, Spanish, English
Producer: Andrea Heckman, Tad Fettig, Judy Walgren
Producer Web site: N/A
Distributor: Documentary Educational Resources
Distributor Web site:www.der.org
Copyright: 2006 by Documentary Educational Resources

Festival Screenings and Awards:

Taos Mountain Film Festival, New Mexico, 2006
Green Wave 21st Century European Environmental Festival, Bulgaria, 2007
New Mexico Filmmakers Showcase, Guild Cinema, Albuquerque, NM, 2007
Boston Latino International Film festival, 2007

During the Franco regime, they were unable to visit the place where their loved ones were buried. During the transition, they were entreated silence and patience. Then they were told to forgive and forget. At last, in 2002, Isabel and Asunción were able to open the graves where their brothers’ bones had been cast. They had made this promise to their parents, and now in their nineties. They haven’t much time left.

VIEW SHORT VIDEO CLIP:

Play with Windows Media Player:  300k or 700k

Length: 75 min.
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish, w/ English subtitles
Producer: Laureano Montero Palacio
Producer Web site: N/A
Distributor: Cre-Accion Films S.L.
Distributor Web site: (Under Construction)
Copyright: N/A

Festival Screenings and Awards:

Festival Internacional de Cinema de San Sebastián, 2005
Festival Internacional de Documentales Santiago Hernández, Cuba
Festival Internacional de Documentales “Documenta Madrid,” Madrid, Spain
Festival Internacional de Cortometrajes de Medina del Campo, Valledolid, Spain
Festival de Cine Arquelógico del Bidasoa, Irun, Spain
Semana de Cine por la Paz, Madrid, Spain
Semana de Cine Cántabro, Cantabria, Spain
Festival Extrema-Doc, Extremadura, Spain
Festival de Cine “La Mirada. Joyas del Cine Español,” Melbourne, Australia
Ciclo Recuperant Memòria Històrica en el IX Premis Tirant de la Quincena del Audiovisual Valenciano
Audience Award for Best Film, Festival de Cine Arqueológico del Bidasoa, Irun, Spain