Directed by Brent Huffman Cinematography Brent Huffman | Music by Homayoun Sakhi Edited by Brent Huffman | |
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Produced by Brent Huffman
Zak Piper
Xiaoli Zhou Production
company German Camera Productions Kartemquin Films | ||
Saving Mes Aynak is a 2014 independent documentary film, directed, produced, shot and edited by Brent E. Huffman. It focuses on Afghan archaeologist Qadir Temori and his struggle to save Mes Aynak, a 5,000-year-old archaeological site in Afghanistan which faces demolition. Saving Mes Aynak was the 2014 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Grant in 2014.
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Saving Mes Aynak premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in November 2014. It later aired on Al Jazeera America and Al Jazeera English networks in July 2015 and was also broadcast on multiple other networks in various countries.
The film was directed by Brent E. Huffman. He was awarded the The International Academic Forum Documentary Film Award in 2015 in part for his work on the film.
Synopsis
Saving Mes Aynak examines the archaeological site of Mes Aynak. Though 90% of the site has yet to be excavated, it is threatened by a Chinese state-owned mining company. The copper mining planned there would completely demolish the archaeological site, as well as the surrounding mountain range. Qadir Temori and other Afghan archaeologists must rally against not only the Chinese government, but also the Taliban and local politics to save the historic site.
Save Mes Aynak Day
The filmmakers of Saving Mes Aynak created a "Save Mes Aynak Day" on July 1, 2015 in efforts to promote the preservation of Mes Aynak and the film. The film's director, Brent Huffman, met with Afghan leaders and presented them with a petition signed by 100,000 people favoring site preservation. Huffman also provided the leaders with copies of the film.
Awards and festivals
Saving Mes Aynak continues to screen in theaters, museums, universities across the globe—to the Louvre, Museum of World Culture in Sweden, The National Museum of the Czech Republic, the Rubin Museum of Art NYC, Seattle Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and many more—educating the public across the globe on the issues of cultural heritage, struggles and devotion of archaeologists.