TAC International Film and Video Festival
Soreng Theater, Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Eugene, Oregon, USA
30-minute Promotion Video
Festival Mission: To exhibit for our audience the wonderful diversity of human cultures past and present in the exploration of our place in history and in our world. To promote the genre and the makers of film and video productions about archaeology and indigenous peoples.
Beginning in 2003, The Archaeology Channel has hosted an annual film festival, and this year's event hosted in association with Archaeological Legacy Institute takes place in a few weeks from now, between Tuesday May 19th and Saturday May 23rd, during which time no less than 18 film-makers from around the world will have their efforts shown to what will doubtless be an appreciative audience. A brief preview of each of the films can be accessed by clicking the relevant link above, and once at that page, viewers can also access similar presentations from festivals past.
The list of films and directors is as follows...
The Antikythera Mechanism: Decoding an Ancient Greek Mystery (UK) Martin Freeth (Mfreeth.Com)
Borneo: The Memory of Caves (France) Luc-Henri Fage (MC4, Arte France, LH Fage)
Breaking the Maya Code (USA) David Lebrun (Night Fire Films)
From Grief and Joy We Sing (USA) Holly Wissler
From Honey to Ashes (USA) Lucas Bessire
Guédelon: The First Ten Years (Germany) Reinhard Kungel (RK-Film)
Guge: The Lost Kingdom of Tibet (Singapore) Keiko Bang (Bang Singapore)
Island Home Country (Australia) Jeni Thornley
The Last Romans (Belgium) Philippe Axell (Axell Communications)
The Mummy Who Came In From the Cold (France) Marc Jampolsky (GEDEON Programmes, Arte France)
The Passion of Memory: Arslantepe, Turkey (Italy) Isabella Astengo (RAI Educational and Duna Film)
Rapayan (Canada) Francis Delfour (ArRimage Productions)
Secrets of the Parthenon (USA) Providence Pictures for WGBH/NOVA
Timbuktu (USA) William Gardner (JWM Productions)
Treasures of the Fitzwilliam Museum (UK) Andrew Guy (Eye to Eye Television)
Twilight of a Land (Canada) David Denton
The Twilight of the Celts (Switzerland) Stéphane Goël (Climage)
Uncle Sem and the Bosnian Dream (Italy) Chiara Brambilla (DocLab and Mir Cinematography)
Two which caught my attention were Island Home Country (Australia) by Jeni Thornley, (the narrative style of which reminded me of the Edward Hopper documentary made by Ron Peck in 1981) - here's the film summary...
In this poetic documentary about the impact of British colonialism in Australia, the film maker explores her personal responsibility as a “newcomer” Australian to the First Australians and to “country.” In the historic year of the 2008 apology to the Stolen Generations, Island Home Country encourages all Australians to acknowledge the First Australians, to care for country, and to work together in a process of decolonization.
The film’s consultative and process-based way of working with members of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community suggests an evolving shift in Australian historical narratives from the frontier wars, with a race-based paradigm, to a more complex one of diverse peoples working through historical trauma together.
The preview clip is a little too brief to gain much of an insight, so I can't comment on the overall content, but I imagine this would be well worth seeing.
Also of note seems to be Twilight of a Land (Canada) David Denton, which again adopts a sombre tone, which given the circumstances of the film's creation, isn't too surprising; as we see...
November 5th, 2005, would close the doors of the dam Eastmain-1 in northern Quebec, flooding 600 km² of Cree traditional lands. Part of a heritage of world signficance was threatened with disappearance by the flood-waters. In the summer of 2003, a team of archaeologists begin a campaign of archaeological rescue along the Eastmain River. Joining them, young people and elders of the Cree community speak out, affected by their stake in the flood-waters. Becoming involved in the process of excavation, they begin a reflection on traces left behind by their ancestors. As they uncover the vestiges of the past, they go through a process of collective mourning on the ground that is flooded today.
Again, the preview clip is brief, but as we have seen from many other sites across the world, there are times when cultural heritage of the past and people living in the present day are summarily swept aside following this or that dam project - the Three Gorges Dam in China being a prime example from recent years.
Having watched all the brief previews, it's clear that not only are there some extremely talented film-makers out there, but there are a number of archaeological sites of great importance that reside in relative obscurity, somewhere just off the beaten track.
Additionally, the key-note speaker at the 2009 Festival will be none other than the head of Egyptian Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass, testament indeed to the stature of this international event.
Whether these films will be on general release to the public at some point in the future I'm not sure, but it would be good to see this festival take to the road, as it were, with subsequent screenings not only in other parts of the US, but maybe over here in Europe as well.
The linked page appears to have all the necessary details for those wishing to make the trip to this festival, including the daily screeing schedule, local hotels and even a local map.
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