The Archaeology Channel

In the Valley of the Dead in Egypt, Tomb 33 is the largest of all tombs in the region. And yet it is not a king’s tomb. Why did Padiamenopea, a librarian for a pharaoh from the 26th dynasty, choose such an imposing tomb for himself? And what was the purpose of the hundreds of meters of frescoes covered with hieroglyphics? One hundred and thirty years after it was first opened by a German Egyptologists, two scientists from Strasbourg, France, attempt to reveal the many secrets of Tomb 33.

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Length: 52 min.
Country: France, Germany
Language: English, French w/ English subtitles
Producer: Thomas Weidenbach, SEPPIA / Indi Film
Producer Web site:www.seppia.fr and www.indifilm.de
Distributor: Upside Television
Distributor Web site: www.upsidetelevision.com
Copyright: 2007 by Seppia, INDI Film, SWR/ARTE, France 3 Alsace

The age-old history of the Sahara Desert is characterized by alternating phases of climatic extremes alternating between periods of great dryness and heavy rains. About 12,000 years ago, after a period of extreme drought, the rains returned and life began slowly to return to this desolate landscape. Thus, in the central Sahara, on the massifs of the Tadrart Akakus and the Messak in southwest Libya, the first communities formed, tough and vital, and culturally accomplished. Through the cave paintings and the shelters in which they survived, these communities have left intact a book of stone which has revealed much to the world today about their extraordinary and evolving human story.

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Length: 58 min.
Country: Italy
Language: English
Producer: Lucio and Anna Rosa / Studio Film TV
Producer website:www.studiofilmtv.it
Distributor: Studio Film TV
Distributor Web site: www.studiofilmtv.it
Copyright: 2007 by Studio Film TV

Festival Screenings and Awards:

Second Prize, International Review of Archaeological Cinema, Rovereto, Italy, 2006
First Prize, International Archaeological Film Festival, Il Capitello d’oro, Rome, Italy, 2007
Jury prize for Best Film, The International Festival of Archaeological Film, "Valle dei Templi,” Agrigento, Italy, 2007
Audience favorite, Cinarchea: International Archaeology Film and Art Festival, Kiel, Germany, 2008
Audience Favorite and Prize for Photograpy, AGON: International Meeting of Archaeological Film of the Mediterranean Area, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2008
Honorable Mention for Best Cinematography (by Jury) and Honorable Mention for Best Animation (by Jury), The Archaeology Channel International Film and Video Festival, Eugene, Oregon, USA, 2008

For four centuries, Americans have adored her as a romantic fairy-tale heroine. But who was the real Pocahontas? As the nation’s birthplace marks its 400th birthday, this film presents an illuminating new view of this legendary figure and offers a first-hand look inside the recently discovered sacred village of Werowocomoco (“Place of Chiefs”) in present-day Virginia, where the longhouse in which Pocahontas first met the colonial leader John Smith in 1607 is being unearthed.

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Length: 60 min.
Country: USA
Language: English
Producer: A NOVA Production by Lone Wolf Documentary Group for WGBH/Boston
Producer Web site:www.lonewolfdg.com/
Distributor: WGBH Educational Foundation
Distributor Web site: www.pbs.org/nova
Copyright: 2006 by WGBH Educational Foundation

It is a tantalizing idea and an outrageous long-shot: a shriveled mummy with crossed arms that has lain neglected on a dusty museum shelf at Niagara Falls could be the remains of a long-lost Egyptian king. While a trail of clues hints at how the looted mummy made its way to North America, archaeologists and scientists look to the latest genetic testing and imaging techniques in hope of ascertaining the body’s hidden identity. The Mummy Who Would Be King reveals an astounding story filled with historical intrigue and the wonders of forensic science

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Length: 60 min.
Country: USA
Language: English
Producer: A NOVA Production by Gemini Productions LLC for WGBH/Boston in association with Channel Four, Spiegel TV GmbH, Sveriges Television and Zöe TV
Producer Web site:www.geminiproductionsllc.com/
Distributor: WGBH Educational Foundation
Distributor Web site: www.pbs.org/nova
Copyright: 2006 by WGBH Educational Foundation

Festival Screenings and Awards:

Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing, Gail Willumsen
Beijing Science Film Festival
Vedere la Scienza Festival

Alexei and Vassili are both Komi, one of the most ancient indigenous people of Siberia. They live with their families on the border of the Arctic Circle, and are the last reindeer herders of this region, as all other Komi have abandoned this archaic and exhausting lifestyle. Each autumn, in order to feed their animals, these two families cross the Urals into Asia to escape the intense winters, returning again in spring when the weather is temperate. This film documents their long and perilous four-month journey with their 5,000 reindeer.

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Length: 52 min.
Country: France / Germany
Language: English, English subtitles, Russian, Komi
Producer: Andreas Voigt, SEPPIA / Barbara Etz Filmproduktion
Producer Web site:www.seppia.fr/ and www.etzfilm.de
Distributor: ZED
Distributor Web site: www.zed.fr
Copyright: none

In the summer of 2006, Bristol archaeologists undertook an unusual excavation; they would deconstruct a Ford Transit van formerly used by colleagues at the World Heritage Site of Ironbridge Gorge, birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. This documentary is both a record of this project and a response to its investigation. For, as the “dig” progresses, voices and ideas collide to critique the project and, implicitly, the nature, rationale, and ambition of archaeology.

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Length: 14 min.
Country: UK
Language: English
Producer: Greg Bailey / University of Bristol Dept. of Archaeology and Anthropology
Producer Web site://This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." data-mce-href="http://This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Distributor: Greg Bailey
Distributor Web site: www.stillintransit.blogspot.com
Copyright: none

Festival Screenings and Awards:

CHAT Conference, Bristol, England, 2006
TAG, Exeter, England, 2006
IFA Conference, 2007
AAS Conference, Sydney, Australia, 2007
Finalist, Presentation of Heritage Awards, British Association for the Advancement of Science, York, England, 2007
Rassegna International Archaeological Film Festival, Rovereto, Italy, 2007
Festival of Archaeological Film, Irun, Spain, 2007

Beijing, China, is fervently embracing the modern world. The city has been reinventing itself by replacing its historic urban fabric of narrow lanes (hutong) and courtyard houses (siheyuan) with high-rise buildings and highways. The quest for modernization has, in large, destroyed much of Beijing’s heritage and has disrupted the way of life familiar to residents. From Hutong to Highrise: The Transformation of Beijing documents the urgent debate between residents, preservationists, urban planners and developers over the future of the city

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Length: 21 min.
Country: China
Language: English, Mandarin
Producer: Jasper Goldman, Beatrice Chen
Producer Web site: www.hutongtohighrise.com
Distributor: N/A
Distributor Web site: N/A
Copyright: 2004 by H2H Productions

Festival Screenings and Awards:

Bartlett University, London
Tsinghua University, Beijing
Columbia University, New York City
Cornell University
Newcastle University

In a desperate bid to turn the tide of America’s Civil War, the Confederacy launched a new and daring weapon: a forty-foot submarine, armed with a primitive torpedo. On its maiden voyage, it destroyed a mighty Union warship, yet its crew never returned home. In this documentary, new archaeological evidence is used to reconstruct the crew’s final moments and reveal, for the first time, what likely sank the H.L. Hunley.

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Length: 47 min.
Country: USA
Language: English
Producer: Brian Leonard / JWM Productions
Producer Web site:www.jwmprods.com
Distributor: The History Channel / A&E Television Networks
Distributor Web site:www.history.com/ and www.aetv.com/
Copyright: 2007 A&E Television Networks

Rome, the Eternal City. A destination renowned for its spectacular monuments and epic history. But beneath this bustling metropolis lie the remains of another “Eternal City,” entombed underground since the fall of Rome. These are dark, hidden places, filled with unknown beauty and mystery. In this documentary, a team of explorers and archaeologists embarks on a riveting journey to unlock the secrets of these ruins, as they descend deep into the underworld of Rome, where few have been or dare to go.

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Length: 52 min.
Country: USA
Language: English
Producer: Vicki Dunakin / Subterra Productions
Producer Web site:www.offthefence.com
Distributor: Off the Fence BV
Distributor Web site:www.offthefence.com
Copyright: 2007 by Subterra Productions LLC

This probing documentary of archaeological discovery begins in a cemetery crammed with skeletons that offer tantalizing clues of the fierce 16th-century battle between warriors of the collapsing Inca Empire and Spanish invaders. Now, the long accepted account of a swift Spanish conquest over the Inca—achieved with guns, steel, and horses—is being replaced by a more complete story based on new and surprising discoveries.

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Length: 60 min.
Country: USA
Language: English
Producer: A Production of NOVA and National Geographic Television
Producer Web site:www.pbs.org/nova and www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/index.html
Distributor: WGBH Educational Foundation
Distributor Web site:www.pbs.org/nova
Copyright: 2007 by NGHT, Inc., and WGBH Educational Foundation