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Subjects (65)
Archaeology (8)

Foreign Countries (6)

  • Angkor, the Lost City
    Angkor, the Lost City
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    Roger Blais  &  Morten Parker 1961 12 min
    A pictorial essay on the ruins of the ancient city of Angkor. The greatest assembly of sculpture the world has ever known--a whole metropolis of palaces and temples, recovered from the jungle. Six hundred monuments, picture-tapestries in stone, and Angkor-Vat, a mile-square temple of grey sandstone, reveal the glories of the Khmers, ancestors of today's Cambodians.
  • Exile - A Myth Unearthed (BBC Version)
    Exile - A Myth Unearthed (BBC Version)
    Ilan Ziv 2013 59 min
    It has been depicted in artwork and lamented in poetry and prayer for nearly 2,000 years: the exile of the Jewish people from their homeland in the first century AD, following the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

    But what if the exile never happened?

    That is the central, provocative question of Exile: A Myth Unearthed, a documentary that looks at the exile through the lenses of archaeology, history, myth and religion, asking what it means for our understanding of history and the contemporary struggle over land in the Middle East.

    Since 1985, teams of archaeologists have been painstakingly unearthing artifacts from the ancient town of Sepphoris, in Galilee. Their findings are revolutionizing our knowledge of Jewish history.

    Exile travels from Sepphoris to Masada, from Jerusalem to the catacombs of Rome, and features interviews with leading historians and archaeologists. Throughout the film we also follow a group of tourists visiting sites in the Holy Land and hear the traditional interpretation of events such as the siege of Masada—an interpretation which stands in sharp contrast to recent evidence.

    The issues raised in Exile are of more than passing historical interest. The myth of exile is an essential narrative in Middle Eastern and European history, and of critical importance to both Christian and Jewish theology. And the possibility that many Jews, such as those of Sepphoris, simply remained where they lived, raises uncomfortable questions. Could some Palestinians actually be their descendants?
  • Exile - A Myth Unearthed
    Exile - A Myth Unearthed
    Ilan Ziv 2012 1 h 37 min
    This feature documentary looks at new evidence that suggests the majority of the Jewish people may not have been exiled following the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Travelling from Galilee to Jerusalem and the catacombs of Rome, the film asks us to rethink our ideas about an event that has played a critical role in the Christian and Jewish traditions.
  • The First Emperor of China
    The First Emperor of China
    Tony Ianzelo  &  Liu Hao Xue 1989 42 min
    This historical drama tells the story of Qin Shihuang, who unified China’s vast territory and declared himself emperor in 221 B.C. During his reign, he introduced sweeping reforms, built a vast network of roads and connected the Great Wall of China. From the grandiose inner sanctum of Emperor Qin's royal palace, to fierce battles with feudal kings, this film re-creates the glory and the terror of the Qin Dynasty, including footage of Qin's life-sized terra cotta army, constructed 2,200 years ago for his tomb. The First Emperor of China was shot entirely in IMAX.
  • The Lost Pharaoh: The Search for Akhenaten
    The Lost Pharaoh: The Search for Akhenaten
    Nicholas Kendall 1980 56 min
    This feature documentary tells the story of Akhenaten, an ancient pharaoh who was almost lost to history. The film follows Canadian archaeologist Dr. Donald Redford, who uncovered the foundation of one of the pharaoh’s many temples, in his attempt to finally piece together this great Egyptian ruler’s enigmatic story.

    Viewer Advisory: This film contains scenes of animal slaughter.
  • The Man Who Discovered America
    The Man Who Discovered America
    Ralph Maud 1981 20 min
    This short documentary looks at the Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad, who uncovered the remains of a Viking settlement at l'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland in 1960. His search for traces of Norse settlements took him from the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico to the Far North of Canada. His numerous expeditions, many of them recorded on film and narrated by Ingstad, form the basis of this fascinating film about a man who is said to have discovered America in a way that few have or ever will.

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