9/18/08
Tomb 33, an Egyptian Mystery
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One day, a couple of years ago, Alexis Metzinger (a young author and director I am working with,) went from researching in Strasbourg to a film project about literature. He was very excited about his discussion with the professor for Egyptian antiquity from the university of Strasbourg. They were supposed to open the biggest tomb of Death valley in Egypt. I didn’t even know at that time that there were scientists of international level working on old Egypt in Strasbourg, France! Then a few days later we had a meeting with professor Claude Traunecker and his assistant Annie Schweitzer. They were so sympathic so communicative and passionate, and also able to explain in simple but poetic words the life of the ancient Egyptians, that I was convinced they were great protagonists for a documentary. After a second meeting with them, we wrote a first script and presentation of the film and went to the European channel ARTE, to know if such a story could be of interest. They were almost from the beginning keen on the story and moreover on the protagonists. We met once again all together along with the well experienced German director Thomas Weidenbach. Everyone was on board after this last meeting and we decided to do the film. The big deal was to be able to have the authorisation from Zahi Hawass, the famous and very mediatic president of Antiquity Service in Egypt … I decided to make the trip with the two archeologists, while they were preparing the opening of the tomb 33. We had an appointment for a meeting with Zahi Hawass. As we were entering the rooms before his office in the Antiquity Service Building in Cairo, we were received in a room with a whole army of secretaries, maybe 10 women! I was quite under pressure because the whole film was depending on this meeting. Finally, I met a very polite and intelligent person, understanding both my producers contingency and the need of the two archeologists to make their research known in order to raise funding for the future. He accepted directly our project and made us a very fair price for the fees to get the authorisation to shoot on ancient sites in Egypt. After this meeting we were very happy, we had the feeling with the two archeologists that we were really belonging to a team, and that as everyone who is really believing in his dreams they were going to become true : for us a great film on a marvelous archeological project, for them the opening of the biggest tomb in Egypt, a consecration of their career. I hope that the film is giving, beyond an untold story of ancient Egypt, a bit of the very human feelings of two wonderful scientists reaching their dream. -- From Cedric Bonin, Producer 1 Comments
Add a comment8/26/08
Dangerous Ground
Watch the program: Part 1 Part 2
We set out to do this story after hearing anecdotal accounts of a rising sense of alienation and resentment among young Australian Muslim men, a result of the fallout from September 11 and the Bali bombings, and the subsequent "war on terror." Their typical experience is being yelled at in the street: "Go back to where you came from. We don't want you here." But the fact is 40 percent of Australian Muslims were born here. They have nowhere else to go. I felt this story was important, not just because everyone deserves to feel at home in the country of their birth, but because I know from my own research on terrorism that alienation is a key factor in the evolution of disillusioned individuals toward terrorism. The first obstacle we faced in making the program was getting anyone to talk to us. Muslim groups and communities are deeply suspicious and resentful toward the media, which they feel has stigmatised them. Many groups and individuals we approached refused to co-operate, out of (an often legitimate) fear that they would be typecast as "the bad guys" or potential terrorists. Thankfully some of them decided it was worth taking the risk, in order to have their say. Another difficulty was distilling the historic and political complexities of the current global Islamist insurgency into a 45-minute television program. We think the results are revealing and disturbing. -- From reporter Sally Neighbour |
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The "World's Untold Stories" blog accompanies a new weekly documentary series on CNN. "World's Untold Stories" takes us to places rarely caught on camera. Gritty, powerful tales that open our eyes to a world that is both disturbing and captivating. Documentaries will be posted, in video, on this blog. When you've seen the documentary, we hope you will join the discussion around the issues raised.Schedule and description SHOWTIMES
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