Along the northern coast of Peru, the remains of more than 300 children and 600 juvenile llamas have been found! They all appear to have been sacrificed in the 15th century, during the time of the Chimu Civilization, the largest empire in the Andean Region before the arrival of the Incas and the Conquistadors. But how, and more importantly, why were these children and animals sacrificed? An international and multi-disciplinary team is leading the investigation on site and in laboratories. Peruvians, French citizens and North Americans are working together to unveil the mysteries and misfortunes of the Kingdom of Chimor. As the evidence builds up in this “cold case,” more and more leads are emerging, as archaeologists investigate the largest known mass child sacrifice in the world.
Length: 90 mins.
Country: France
Language: French with English Subtitles
Director: Jérôme Scemla
Producer(s): Marianne Jestaz
Distributor: N/A
This documentary film is about the adventures of the Achaemenid tablet fragments, which reveal the economic, social and religious history of the Achaemenid Empire in the fifth century BC. The tablets were discovered during the excavation of Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire. About 90 years ago, archaeologists from the University of Chicago came to Iran to repair and study the inscriptions on some of these tablets. By mutual agreement, the tablets were loaned to the University to be studied and read. Over the years, scholars there succeeded in gathering data on the Persian Empire from parts of the inscriptions and other Persian sources, but after all these years, the tablets have not yet been returned home!
Length: 40 mins.
Country: Iran
Language: Persian with English Subtitles
Director: Orod Attarpour
Producer(s): Orod Attarpour
Distributor: IRIB MEDIA TRADE
This film focuses on the Atlantic Pyrenees, at the bottom of the Ossau valley. The inhabitants of the hamlet of Aas there still communicate by means of whistling. Their people have long ago invented a unique whistling language. This venerable language -- the details of whose origin have always remained, and still remain, a mystery -- has, by today, almost disappeared. But, via this film, that language is reborn, thanks to the enthusiasm of some passionate Aas whistlers who perform in that language for this film.
Length: 52 mins.
Country: France
Language: Other with English Subtitles
Director: Richard Martin-Jordan
Producer(s): Serge Houot
Distributor: Mara Films
The entry to the most important underwater decorated cave in Europe is hidden 35 meters below sea level in southern France, near the city of Marseille. The rich paintings discovered 20 years ago date back 30,000 years and are threatened by rising waters. In a race against time, a full-sized replica of the cave, due to be finished by June 2022, is being constructed to preserve the paintings. This film follows an ambitious artistic and scientific project alongside prehistorians, geologists and craftspeople to retrace the incredible history of early human settlements in Provence.
Length: 52 mins.
Country: France
Language: English, French w/ subtitles
Director: Marie Thiry
Producer(s): STÉPHANE MILLIÈRE
Distributor: GEDEON PROGRAMMES
In southwestern Madagascar, the Mahafaly Plateau is an extremely arid land. Here, the rains fall only a few times a year. In these very difficult living conditions, the inhabitants of the small village of Ampotaka found a unique solution to store water. For the last ten years, film-maker Cyrille Cornu, who is also a scientist, explorer, naturalist, and photographer, has organized expeditions to the heart of the most remote forests on the island. This is the first film of a three-part series devoted to these Madagascar giants, the baobab trees, and includes the story of Mamody, an inhabitant of Ampotaka and the last baobab digger.
Length: 52 mins.
Country: France
Language: English w/ Subtitles
Director: Cyrille Cornu
Producer(s): Cyrille Cornu
Distributor: Cyrille Cornu
Stretching for hundreds of miles, the Rhone valley is bordered by mountains. This important valley system, for at least three hundred thousand years, was known to archaic human hunter-gatherer nomads, as testified by several archaeological sites. Later, during a warm interglacial phase, Neanderthals hunted horse and bison in the valley, leaving their flint tools and organic discard in many cave areas, including evidence of their interaction with hyenas, as well as clear traces of cannibalism. In this film, we present an overland journey into the Rhone Valley to discover an area where the very first modern humans arriving in Europe encountered the Neanderthals. Later, modern human clans explored the remarkable Ardèche canyons of the Valley and left their artwork inside the Chauvet Cave, the most astonishing Paleolithic cave of Europe. Come with us on a voyage through wilderness and through time… Into the Paleolithic!
Length: 53 mins.
Country: France
Language: French with English Subtitles
Director: Rob Hope
Producer(s): Mona-Lisa Production - Intervista Prod
Distributor: N/A
Gallarus Oratory is a unique Irish stone-built structure nestled on the Wild Atlantic Way in the Dingle Peninsula of West Kerry, in the far southwestern corner of Ireland. Its origins are somewhat of an enigma. When was it built? How was it built and by whose hands? Can local Irish folklore and archaeology piece together the story of this ecclesiastical marvel? This short documentary takes us on a journey of discovery spanning 1.000 years of history, bringing to the fore a unique insight into Irish spirituality and folk belief.
Length: 15 mins.
Country: Ireland
Language: English
Director: Matthew Emmet Sullivan
Producer(s): Matthew Emmet Sullivan
Distributor: N/A
What is concentration camp music? How and why was it born? Maestro Francesco Lotoro's thirty years of work have been dedicated to finding answers to these questions. And so, this work becomes a journey, through space and time, through memories and archives, a journey through photographs, scores, melodies, and songs. But also among the wounds of memory and history, among private, personal entanglements, are the atrocious dynamics of the Second World War. "Music sets one free" contains this journey: through the voices and memories of direct and indirect witnesses, the tale of hope, and with it the power of music, comes to life in the emotions of Maestro Lotoro, who accompanies us on this journey in search of a ray of light in the darkness of the barbarity of war.
Length: 56 mins.
Country: Italy
Language: Italian with English Subtitles
Director: Alessandra Peralta
Producer(s): Luigi Bertolo
Distributor: RAI COM
This film is a soliloquy of one Chukchi man, and at the same time the entire ethnic group as a whole. The Chukchi are a Siberian indigenous people native to the Chukchi Peninsula, the shores of the Chukchi Sea, and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean, all within modern Russia. It’s a story of their life, Motherland and also of the things that cause the Chukchi to break away from their roots. This film is a possible projection of our future, as by choosing the blessings of civilization, we risk losing ourselves. Is there a way to get out of the "blizzard?” It seems that the Chukchi know the answer.
Length: 64 mins.
Country: Russia
Language: Russian with English Subtitles
Director: Vladimir Krivov
Producer(s): Olga Michi, Maksim Koveshnikov
Distributor: Natalia Blagova
A sound is heard from the depth of the soil, as the archaeological exploration of the Shahr-e Sukhteh (The Burnt City) goes on. While following the archaeologists, the film at the same time seeks out the sound coming from the depths of the soil and steps deep into history to accompany the ancient citizens of the city. The film depicts this wonderful city, near Zabol in Iran, which was home to one of the highest civilizations at the dawn of history, lasting for over 1,400 years. Shahr-e Sukhteh had no central government or leadership. It was administered by a matriarchal group, meaning that power was in the hands of women. It may be for this reason that we witness no trace of violence or war in this city. This quality is something that the world desperately needs today.
Length: 53 mins.
Country: Iran
Language: Italian, Persian w/ English subtitles
Director: Nasser Pooyesh
Producer(s): Nasser Pooyesh
Distributor: Alireza Shahrokhi
Eighty-two-year-old Firouzeh is not afraid of hard work. From dawn to dusk, the fiercely independent herder takes care of her beloved cows in the mountains of northern Iran, without any access to electricity, gas or phone. Married at a young age to an older man, she's long been a widow, and none of her 11 children ever come to visit. However, she enjoys her solitary life in harmony with nature, and won't hear the well-meaning advice from nearby villagers that it's maybe time to retire. No matter the difficulties, this indomitable woman will always choose her hard-won freedom over comfort among people.
Length: 54 mins.
Country: Iran
Language: Persian with English Subtitles
Director: Yaser Talebi
Producer(s): Elaheh Nobakht
Distributor: Eli-image