Saving Mes Aynak (60 min; 2014; dvd; English & with subtitles)

CANCELLED

A film by Brent Huffman

Introduction & Discussion: Shobita Punja, Art Historian and independent scholar; and William Dalrymple, Author and Historian

 

Multiple award winner including Grand Prize & Audience Award, Arkhalos Cultural Heritage and Archaeology Film Festival; Best Film, The Archaeological Channel International Film & Video Festival; Best Documentary, International One Hour Film Competition, Cinemambiente Environmental Film Festival, Turin, Italy; IDFA Honorary Award for 2015, IAFOR Documentary Film Award, The International Academic Forum, Kobe, Japan; among others

 

Saving Mes Aynak follows Afghan archaeologist Qadir Temori as he races against time to save a 5,000-year-old archaeological site in Afghanistan from imminent demolition. A Chinese state-owned mining company is closing in on the ancient site, eager to harvest $100 billion dollars worth of copper buried directly beneath the archaeological ruins. The film examines the conflict between cultural preservation and economic opportunity through the lens of the Afghan archaeologists and local villagers who work and live near Mes Aynak