A New Partnership with the Acclaimed Icarus Films
One of the many sacred stupas found at Mes Aynak.
We are incredibly excited to announce our new distribution partnership with the renowned Icarus Films! Icarus Films is one of the world's leading distributors of documentary films, and we are proud to have them on board to oversee the North American educational, home, and digital release of Saving Mes Aynak.
Icarus Films has an outstanding track record of getting social issue documentaries into the places where they can do the most good: universities, schools, libraries, and cultural organizations, and involved in educational events all over the world like festivals, expos, panels, and symposiums. They are a perfect fit for us and what we hope to accomplish in the future through our film.
To learn more about Icarus Films, please visit their website. We will be updating you on upcoming screenings, panels, and all of our educational, home DVD, and digital release dates, so please stay tuned!
Read the official press release from Icarus Films below
SAVING MES AYNAK
Kartemquin Documentary on Afghan Archaeology Released by Icarus Films
January 11, 2016: Independent documentary firms Icarus Films and Kartemquin Films today announced their collaboration on the film Saving Mes Aynak. Directed by Brent E. Huffman and produced by Kartemquin Films, the film will be distributed by Icarus Films to educational, home and digital markets including college and university libraries across the U.S. and Canada.
Saving Mes Aynak follows Afghan archaeologist Qadir Temori as he races against time to save a 5,000-year-old archaeological site from imminent demolition. Only 10% of Mes Aynak (pronounced mees eye-nock) has been excavated, though discoveries at the site have the potential to redefine history. Now, the archaeology site—as well as an entire mountain range—will be completely demolished. Saving Mes Aynak examines the conflict between cultural preservation and economic opportunity as Qadir Temori and his fellow Afghan archaeologists face pressure from the Taliban, a Chinese mining company and local Afghan politics to save their cultural heritage from erasure.
Saving Mes Aynak is a selection of film festivals including the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, American Documentary Festival Palm Springs and Dokufest Kosovo. The film has won awards from Ahvaz International Science Film Festival of Iran, The Archaeology Channel International Film & Video Festival, Arkhaios Cultural Heritage and Archaeology Film Festival, Cinemambiente International Environmental Film Festival, and the IAFOR Documentary Film Award. International organizations for the preservation and study of art and archaeology have hosted screenings of the film, including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. and the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.
The contract for the distribution of Saving Mes Aynak was signed by Tim Horsburgh for Kartemquin Films and Jonathan Miller for Icarus Films. The two firms have collaborated on a number of projects, most recently making Kartemquin titles available on Docuseek2, an educational streaming platform.
"Advocacy filmmaking at its best and most chilling... That rare doc that needs to be seen."
—IndieWire
"An engrossing look at the conflict between cultural preservation and economic opportunity."
—Audiences Everywhere
"A call to action that needs immediate attention... This is a movie that demands you at least tweet your congressman after viewing."
— Inside Pulse
"Shows the sheer determination of the Afghan archaeologists to protect their culture against overwhelming odds... Huffman has crafted a remarkable film of courage, heroism, and hope."
—Current World Archaeology Magazine