[OR_Archaeology] ArchaeologyFest Film Series returns to Portland in January

[RPettigrew at aol.com]

To our friends in and near Portland: The best archaeology-related films in  
the world are coming to Portland, starting Friday night, January 11.  This  
is our annual event, ArchaeologyFest Film Series:Best of 2012!  Please come 
 to see some outstanding films and help us support TAC Festival 2013 by 
enjoying  our PSU mini-Festival at the Fifth Avenue Cinema in Portland for four 
evenings  (a different 2-hour show each evening), Friday, January 11; 
Saturday, January  12; Friday, January 18: and Saturday, January 19.  These are 
the top films  from The Archaeology Channel International Film  Festival that 
took place in Eugene last May.  All of them are award-winners  from this 
international competition.  And it's just six bucks for two hours  of sheer 
enjoyment.  Read on below for more details on the schedule and  films.  Please 
spread the word where you can.  See the ArchaeologyFest  Web page at 
_http://archaeologychannel.org/events-guide/archaeologyfest-film-series-guide_ 
(http://archaeologychannel.org/events-guide/archaeologyfest-film-series-guide)  
 for more information.

Rick Pettigrew
Archaeological Legacy  Institute
_www.archaeologychannel.org_ (http://www.archaeologychannel.org/) 

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ArchaeologyFest  Film Series: 
Best of 2012  

A benefit for The Archaeology  Channel
International Film and Video Festival
 
5th Ave. Cinema
510 SW Hall St., Portland
January 11/12  & 18/19, 2013
 
Doors open at 7 pm and programs begin at 7:30 pm on dates indicated.   
Admission $6.  Tickets at the door.  These are the best films from the  2011 
edition of TAC Festival.  (The 2013 edition of TAC Festival takes  place in the 
Recital Hall at The Shedd Institute in downtown Eugene, May 7-11,  2013.)
 
Program A: Friday, January 11
 
• An Introduction to Contemporary Archaeology (UK) 9  min.
This short film is a short introduction (and a spoof!) to the new  field of 
“contemporary archaeology.”  Dr. Brooklyn Honswoggle-Smythe,  
Buckinghamshire New University’s youngest and most brilliant Contemporologist,  guides 
you through the ins and outs and back-ins of the world of contemporary  
archaeology—the new subject everyone’s talking about!  Did you know  
archaeologists could laugh about themselves?  Or should this gibe at the  modern 
theoretitician be taken seriously at some level?  (Honorable Mention  by jury in 
Best Film competition and for Narration, Public Education Value, and  
Inspiration; Special Mention by jury for most innovative representation of  
archaeology)
 
• The Lord of Sipan (Spain) 52 min.
This is the story of a  Great Lord of the Moche culture, who was buried 
with honors so that his message  would endure in time, and an archaeologist 
named Walter Alva, who rescued this  Lord from his tomb to fulfill his ancient 
plan.  The Moche culture  developed on the northern coast of Peru between 
100 BC and AD 400.  It is a  mysterious culture that disappeared shortly after 
reaching its peak. Today,  everyone has heard of the Moche, thanks to the 
discoveries made during the last  two decades. The discoveries continue, and 
this unique civilization still  surprises the world.  (Audience Favorite)
 
• The Tomb of the Hidden Mummies (Greece) 10 min.
In 1871, in  the cliffs of Deir El Behri near the village of Qurna, not far 
from Luxor in  Egypt, a young boy called Ahmed El-Rassul accidentally 
discovered a hidden tomb  in a mountain near his home.  Ahmed and his family 
looted the tomb for over  a decade until their activities became known to the 
Egyptian antiquities  service.  When archaeologists arrived, they were stunned 
by what they saw:  more than fifty royal mummies.  This discovery had a 
profound impact on  what was known of Egyptian history and reminded everyone 
that looting has been  an Egyptian nemesis for thousands of years.  (Honorable 
Mention by jury in  Animation and Effects)
 
• A Gift from Talking God (USA) 30 min.
To the Navajo people  of the American Southwest, “sheep is life.”  The 
Navajo-Churro sheep is the  original breed, which has sustained the Navajo, 
Pueblo, and Hispanic people for  400 years.  On the verge of extinction a 
generation ago, the Navajo-Churro  is making a comeback to the Navajo people.  
The Slow Food Foundation for  Biodiversity recognizes the breed as a 
culturally and genetically important  animal, worthy of international recognition.  
This film offers a portrait  of rarely seen traditional Navajo lifeways and 
sustainable herding practices in  the remote Arizona-New Mexico homeland.  
(Honorable Mention by Audience in  Audience Favorite competition)
 
• A Treasure of Gold (Greece) 9 min.
In the 1970s, near the  village of Aidonia, in the Greek municipality of 
Nemea, a mule fell into a  hole.  Upon rescuing the animal, villagers 
discovered a rare golden  treasure buried amidst a group of skeletons.  A few years 
later,  archaeologists arrived at the looted site.  Sixteen of the 18 tombs 
already  had been emptied, but a small stash of jewelry had been overlooked 
by the tomb  robbers.  Later, a collection of Mycenaean jewelry went up for 
sale at an  auction house in New York City.  This is the story of the 
plunder of  Mycenaean tombs and of the recovery of a treasure made of gold.
 
Program B: Saturday,  January 12

• Etruscan Odyssey: Expanding Archaeology (USA) 17  min.
The early Mediterranean civilization of Etruria flourished for a  thousand 
years and then vanished, leaving art and artifacts, but little trace of  its 
history.  After decades of painstaking work, archaeologists now are  
beginning to piece together a fascinating portrait of daily life in Etruscan  
society.  Etruscan Odyssey engages viewers with a brief historical  background 
utilizing stunning images of artifacts from the finest known  collections of 
Etruscan art.  These works highlight the  expert aesthetic and technical 
prowess of the Etruscans, which continues to  inspire a desire to find out more 
about the lost culture at the heart of the  Mediterranean tradition. 
 
• The Fate of Old Beijing (China) 20 min.
In the face  of China’s rapid modernization, the country is struggling to 
preserve its  cultural heritage, and nowhere is this more visible than in the 
ancient  alleyways and courtyards of Beijing.  The hutongs are more than 
simply  housing: they are a way of life.  The communal aspect to life within 
the  hutongs means that few residents want to leave—even as their 
neighborhoods are  being demolished and redeveloped.  This film explores the vanishing 
world  of Beijing’s hutongs, the realities of life within those narrow 
streets, and the  future for these culturally irreplaceable areas.
 
• Bitter Roots  (USA) 71 min.
Bitter Roots puts to  rest a Kalahari Myth.  Set in Nyae-Nyae, a region of 
Namibia in southern  Africa’s Kalahari desert, traditional home of the Ju’
hoansi, Bitter Roots  observes the erosion of a community-led development 
process in Nyae-Nyae  following an imposition of a new agenda by the World 
Wildlife Fund, which  prioritizes wildlife conservation and tourism over 
subsistence farming.   The film sensitively examines the problems facing the Ju’
hoansi, challenging the  myth that they are culturally unable to farm.  The 
film investigates how  the Ju’hoansi cope with the expectations of tourists and 
filmakers while  steadfastly continuing to farm against all odds.  (Special 
Mention by jury  for best representation of cultural change; Honorable 
Mention by jury for Public  Education Value)
 
Program C: Friday, January 18

• Mémère Métisse (Canada) 30 min.
For over sixty years,  Cecile St. Amant has been keeping a deep secret: she 
is Métis (Canadian  aboriginal group of mixed First Nations and European 
heritage).  Cecile’s  granddaughter sets out to understand her Mémère’s 
(grandmother’s) denial and  playfully plots her own mission to open her Mémère’s 
eyes to the richness of her  heritage.  She soon realizes that her Mémère 
will not be easily convinced  that being Métis is something to be proud of.  
Her persistent prodding  reveals a generation’s legacy of shame and the 
profound courage of the human  spirit to overcome it.  (Honorable Mention by 
jury for Inspiration)
 
• Robert Blake and the Civil War Sieges of Taunton (UK) 12  min.
Be prepared for a truly fresh look at the exploits of English  
Parliamentarian commander Robert Blake under Oliver Cromwell during the first  English 
Civil War.  From July 1664 to July 1665, the city of Taunton, the  only 
Parliamentery enclave in the southwest of England, led by Colonel Blake,  held 
out against the Royalist forces led by Lord Goring.  Blake, who went  on to 
become a legendary admiral, famously declared that he had four pairs of  boots 
and would eat three pairs before he would surrender.  This film  relates 
the archaeology and history of the period as well as Blake’s  influence.  
(Best Narration and Best Music by jury; Honorable Mention by  jury in Script, 
Cinematography, and in Best Film competition)
 
• Ramesses the Second: The Great Journey (France) 63  min.
Under the reign of Ramesses the Second, pharaoh of the New  Empire’s 19th 
Dynasty, Egypt was living the final hours of its golden age.   After a reign 
of 67 years, the powerful emperor died at the age of 92.  He  became the 
legendary “Ramesses the Great.”  His mummy was interred in the  heart of the 
Valley of the Kings, on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes,  marking the 
beginning of his Great Journey towards the afterlife on the  condition that his 
tomb be preserved for all time.  (Best Animation and  Effects by Jury; 
Honorable Mention by jury in Best Film competition, Public  Education Value, 
Script, Cinematography, Music, and in Audience Favorite  competition)
 
Program D: Saturday, January 19

• The Renaissance of Mata Ortiz (USA) 54 min.
When  anthropologist Spencer MacCallum bought three pieces of pottery from 
a  second-hand store in Deming, New Mexico, in 1976, he had no idea that he 
was  about to begin a journey that would lead to the revival of an ancient 
art  form.  In Mata Ortiz, México, MacCallum partnered with self-taught 
artist  Juan Quezada and slowly created an industry that today is known  
world-wide.  The Renaissance of Mata Ortiz tells the improbable story of  how 
Quezada and MacCallum both experienced creative and personal breakthroughs  which 
led to dazzling, innovating works by Quezada and a passing of the torch to  
younger, award-winning artists such as Diego Valles.  (Best Script and Most  
Inspirational by jury; Honorable Mention by jury in Best Film competition,  
Narration, Public Education Value, Cinematography, and Music; Honorable 
Mention  by audience in Audience Favorite competition; Special Mention by jury 
for best  representation of sustainability of cultural change)
 
• The Hobbit Enigma (Australia) 52 min.
This dynamic  film examines one of the greatest controversies in science 
today: what did  scientists find when they uncovered the tiny, human-like 
skeleton of a strange  creature, known to many as the Hobbit, on the Indonesian 
island of Flores in  2003?  Are the bones a previously unknown and bizarre 
primitive species of  human?  The Hobbit discovery forces us to rethink some 
of the most  fundamental questions of human origins. With exclusive access 
to ongoing  interdisciplinary research and new fieldwork, this is a 
comprehensive account of  a startling new view of human evolution.  (Best Film, Best 
Cinematography  and Best Public Education Value by jury;  Honorable Mention 
by jury for  Narration, Animation and Effects, Script, and Inspiration; 
Special Mention by  jury for best representation of archaeology)
 

TAC Festival 2013 to be held in the Recital Hall at The  Shedd Institute

ALI announces the next edition of  The Archaeology Channel International 
Film and Video  Festival, May 7-11, 2013, in the Recital Hall at The Shedd 
Institute, 868 High  Street, in downtown Eugene, Oregon.  TAC Festival will 
bring to Oregon the  world’s best films on archaeology, ancient cultures, and 
the world of indigenous  peoples.  Our Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Tom 
Dillehay, who singlehandedly  overturned the Clovis-first hypothesis, speaking on 
"Entangled Knowledge and the  Quest for New Models on the Peopling of the 
Americas."  Please join us in  welcoming to Eugene the people of the world for 
this cinematic celebration of  the human cultural heritage.  Details at 
_http://archaeologychannel.org/events-guide/international-film-and-video-festiva
l_ 
(http://archaeologychannel.org/events-guide/international-film-and-video-festival) .
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