#SaveMesAynak Day - July 1st

#SaveMesAynak Day is finally here! On this day, we will unite in watching Saving Mes Aynak, and announce to the world that we believe in saving Mes Aynak, and in protecting culture, history, and human rights. The more noise we make, the more the Afghanistan government, Chinese State-owned mining company, and UNESCO will listen. Join us to make history! 

#SaveMesAynak Day on July 1 will spark worldwide protest, conversation, and action around Saving Mes Aynak, an award-winning documentary that exposes a Chinese company's plan to turn a 5,000 year-old archeological site in Afghanistan into a copper mine, destroying priceless Buddhist relics. Thousands of people will watch the film together worldwide.

HOW TO WATCH:

Watch the film here on July 1 - #SaveMesAynak Day 

In Afghanistan? Watch for Free!

Watch the broadcast on Witness - Al Jazeera at 20 GMT on Al Jazeera English.

 

LIVE GOOGLE HANGOUT EVENT:

On #SaveMesAynak Day, we will be hosting an interactive Google Hangout On Air live event from 1:00 - 2:30pm US Central Time! Featured guests will be director Brent Huffman, Dr. Rajeev Kinra of Northwestern University, Stephen Carter of Global Witness-Afghanistan, Buddhist artist Rima Fujita, and Kelly Krause of Heritage in Action. To watch, just follow this link! If there is something you want our esteemed panel to discuss, leave us a comment on the event page! 

HELP US TAKE A STAND:

#SaveMesAynak Day will launch a long-term educational campaign to reach as many people as we can. After the world watches the film together on July 1, director Brent E. Huffman hopes to travel to Kabul and present both the film and a petition of 100,000 signatures to President Ghani, his government, and to the people of Afghanistan. We plan to show the film to UNESCO officials, and the international community of those with the power to ensure this magnificent Buddhist archeological site is preserved. 

10% of all donations will go directly to the Afghan archeologists at the site to aid them in their efforts. 

Help us #SaveMesAynak for future generations by sharing the word!

Join our Facebook event

Join our Thunderclap!

Share our Videos of Mes Aynak

Share our Photos of Mes Aynak

Donate to support our continuing activism campaign

Sign the Change.org petition to Afghanistan's President

Set up your own public screening

Help us translate the film into your language

SMA on Al Jazeera English: July 1st + Streaming Online!

Saving Mes Aynak will broadcast on Al Jazeera English on July 1st at 20 GMT for #SaveMesAynak Day! We are incredibly honored to partner with Al Jazeera to raise awareness and spread the story of Mes Aynak. For those who meet the criteria, for one month following the broadcast Saving Mes Aynak will be available online through the AJ-E website! 

More information, including how to stream the film online through their website, is available here: http://bit.ly/SMA_ON_AJE

The Beauty of Mes Aynak

Mes Aynak is one of the world's great heritage sites. Its history is irreplaceable... yet, it's threatened by destruction THIS YEAR (2015) by a Chinese-State owned mining company, who plan to blow it up to mine for copper beneath the site. Together, WE have the power to raise up and stop this tragedy from happening.

Join us on #SaveMesAynak Day to watch the film and share this beauty with the world!

Brent Huffman on CNN Amanpour TODAY, June 24th!!

Incredible news for Saving Mes Aynak and our #SaveMesAynak movement: Brent Huffman will be on CNN Amanpour with Christiane Amanpour (CNN's chief international correspondent) TODAY, Wednesday June 24th! This is a landmark event for our cause, and it will allow us to reach millions with our message to save this historic world heritage site. It is also yet another indication that our efforts are working. Please check your local TV listing for the exact time when CNN Amanpour airs in your area. I hope you join us for this worldwide televised event. 

More information: http://www.cnn.com/shows/amanpour

Our ongoing Indiegogo campaign directly affects our ability to continue to raise awareness around Mes Aynak and share this film with the world. Our campaign ENDS THIS Friday, June 26th, at 11:59pm! Please donate and support our cause: http://igg.me/at/SaveMesAynak

Saving Mes Aynak free to watch in Afghanistan

Chicago not-for-profit documentary collective Kartemquin Films will release Saving Mes Aynak free to the people of Afghanistan.

The award-winning documentary exposes a Chinese company's plan to turn a 5,000 year-old archeological site in Afghanistan into a copper mine, destroying priceless Buddhist relics.

The filmmakers are offering the free stream, hosted by the digital platform VHX, to anyone within Afghanistan who visits www.savingmesaynak.com before midnight on July 1, which they have declared Global #SaveMesAynak Day.

For the rest of the world, Kartemquin are currently offering streams, downloads, DVD/Blu-Rays, and public screenings of Saving Mes Aynak through their campaign on Indiegogo, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform. All funds raised go towards supporting the filmmakers' ongoing activism in saving the site, and in educating the public about the importance of preserving cultural heritage. An initial 10% of the campaign goal of $50,000 of raised funds will also go directly to funding archeologists preserving the site. Should the filmmakers exceed their goal before midnight PDT on June 26, they will double that direct donation to 20%. Pledge your support here.

Saving Mes Aynak, which world premiered at IDFA 2014, follows Afghan archaeologist Qadir Temori as he races to save the Mes Aynak site from imminent demolition by China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC), a Chinese state-owned mining company ready to harvest an estimated $100 billion dollars worth of copper. Located within Afghanistan’s Taliban-controlled Logar Province, Mes Aynak is a 5,000 year-old Bronze age site and 2,000 year-old Buddhist Silk Road city of historical and cultural importance archeologists have stated could potentially be comparable to Machu Picchu or Pompeii. Only 10% of the site has so far been excavated, but corruption is rampant, and the site could be destroyed at any time.

Director Brent E. Huffman has been unable to return to Afghanistan since he finished production. Filming solo at the Mes Aynak site, he received kidnapping and death threats from the Taliban, who control the area. The film shows that several archeologists have also faced violence and even been killed while working at the site. Extensive looting of priceless Buddhist relics is regularly taking place and corruption is rampant.

“I want to go back and present the film personally in Afghanistan, but even if that is not possible we want the film to be seen there above all else. This is our gift to the people of Afghanistan, but also a challenge to those with the power to reverse this decision and save Mes Aynak,” said director Brent Huffman. “My film shows that while the Taliban, the Chinese company, and the Afghan government are all trying to secure access to this huge amount of money, Afghan archaeologists were the only ones trying to do something selfless and save this enormous archaeological site, and really do something for their own country. Afghanistan is not a rich country and they are under immense pressure to develop their mineral resources. But it will be very hard for anyone who sees the beauty of Mes Aynak, and the corruption going on, to still think mining this site will be beneficial for the country.”

Huffman first visited Mes Aynak in 2011 after reading about it in the New York Times. His initial blogs, photos, and videos from the site helped spark worldwide protests that may have directly led to the Chinese company delaying mining. The activism campaign may also have contributed to a stunning recent declaration by Afghan Minister of Mines and Petroleum Dawood Shah Saba that the current mining contract is “not in the interest of the country.” But with the threat of destruction still imminent, the filmmaker will not rest until the site is permanently safe from harm.

Click here to watch Brent's appearance on CNN International

Said Huffman: “It is my hope that #SaveMesAynak Day will spark worldwide protest, conversation, and action. It will be the launch of a long-term educational campaign to reach as many people as we can with the message that humans need to protect their cultural heritage. After the world watches the film together on July 1, I hope to travel to Kabul and present both the film and a Change.org petition asking Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, his government, and to the people of Afghanistan. We plan to show the film to UNESCO officials, and the international community of those with the power to ensure this magnificent Buddhist archeological site is preserved. But we need support in doing this, and with translation services.”

Saving Mes Aynak world premiered in November 2014 at IDFA, the world’s largest documentary festival, and debuted in the US in 2015 at American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs and at Full Frame Documentary Festival. It has won festivals wards in the US and in Iran, and was praised as “Advocacy filmmaking at its best… unique and immediate,” by Indiewire. Following #SaveMesAynak Day, the film will be broadcast in a number of countries around the world, including on Al Jazeera America and Al Jazeera English, and will be available to screen to a combination of educational institutions and community venues.

Film Synopsis
Saving Mes Aynakfollows 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. Only 10% of Mes Aynak has been excavated, though, and some believe future discoveries at the site have the potential to redefine the history of Afghanistan and the history of Buddhism itself. Qadir Temori and his fellow Afghan archaeologists face what seems an impossible battle against the Chinese, the Taliban and local politics to save their cultural heritage from likely erasure.

FULL PRESS KIT with director’s statement, background on Saving Mes Aynak, and POSTER: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RK-qw_0Lu1WGO0p-cP8G2Rt0MxoSlLX9Pbgi...
IMAGES: www.savingmesaynak.com/photos
Link to #SaveMesAynak July 1 campaign: http://igg.me/at/SaveMesAynak

SAVING MES AYNAK SELECTED AS AWARD WINNER IN 2015 TAC FILM FESTIVAL!

“I am deeply honored to learn that Saving Mes Aynak won TWO major awards at the International Archaeology Film Festival in Oregon.  Saving Mes Aynak won overall ‘Best Film’ at the Festival as well as 'Best Public Education Value'.  

Recognition like this means so much to everyone involved as we strive to save the ancient city of Mes Aynak before its scheduled demolition later this year”.

- Director Brent E. Huffman

$5 Because You Care About Mes Aynak

If you are reading this, it’s because you care about Mes Aynak. If you could give just $5, I would reach my #SaveMesAynak campaign goal today. On July 1, all of us could join in watching the completed film and presenting the governments of Afghanistan, China, and UNESCO with a unified and undeniable voice that says: Mes Aynak must be preserved. Following that moment, I could offer this film for use in educating the entire world about the beauty of this 5,000 year-old jewel of human history, and in continued political pressure.

JOIN US NOW

Already, it is working! Thanks to the movement you have helped me build around this film for 5 years, we are now seeing unprecedented positive developments happening at Mes Aynak. If you’ve already pledged support or spread the word, thank you. There is no doubt that your efforts helped make this happen!

If you have not given yet, please do now - even just $5. This is a critical moment, and we must take this chance to make the rest of the world take notice and bring this pressure to bear. Please help me use the power of documentary film and preserve the beauty of Mes Aynak.

The rest of the world is taking notice. The Guardian, Examiner, and The UK's Sunday Times have supported our goal of preserving Mes Aynak. In a huge breakthrough, Afghanistan’s Mine and Petroleum Minister Daud Shah Saba spoke out against the mining contract between Afghanistan and China, stating that its current form is NOT in the best interest of the country.

After the world watches the film together on July 1, I hope to travel to Kabul and present both the film and a petition of 100,000 signatures to President Ghani, his government, and to the people of Afghanistan. We plan to show the film to UNESCO officials, and the international community of those with the power to ensure this magnificent Buddhist archeological site is preserved.

But first, that power lies with us. Now, more than ever, I believe that together we WILL save Mes Aynak. Thanks for being part of this story.

Sincerely,
Brent E. Huffman, Director, Saving Mes Aynak

The Heroism of the Afghan Archaeologists at Mes Aynak

To preserve their cultural history, the Afghan archaeologists at Mes Aynak risk their lives everyday by working in areas full of landmines, and under constant death threat from the Taliban. Little money has been given to them, leaving them without necessary equipment like computers, cameras, chemicals, and months without pay. These brave archaeologists do whatever it takes to uncover and protect the priceless history found at Mes Aynak. Learn more about these sacrifices they make in this video, featuring footage from Saving Mes Aynak!

A portion of all donations to our ongoing Indiegogo campaign (ENDS JUNE 26th) go directly to these courageous Afghan archaeologists. If we reach our goal, that portion goes up to 20%! Please support our campaign to #SaveMesAynak, and also help the Mes Aynak archaeologists: http://igg.me/at/SaveMesAynak

Join Us for Our UK Premiere on June 24th!

We are incredibly excited to announce that Saving Mes Aynak is headed to London for a special one-night-only UK premiere at the Bertha DocHouse on Wednesday, June 24th at 6:30pm! 

Following this special screening will be a panel discussion, including director Brent Huffman and an esteemed group of academics and experts in the fields of archaeology, cultural preservation, and the arts. We will be announcing our panelists shortly, so stay tuned! 

Tickets to our UK premiere are on sale now and available for £9. Be sure to get yours soon, as tickets are already moving fast! More information is available on the Bertha DocHouse website: http://bit.ly/SMA_UK_Premiere

We look forward to seeing you there! 

University of Chicago Oriental Institute Screening & Panel - June 23rd!

We are excited to be partnering with the world-renowned Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago for screening and panel on Tuesday, June 23rd, at 7:00pm! Admission for this special event is FREE. There will be a reception following the panel discussion. Please join us; we look forward to seeing you there! For more information, please click here. 

PANELISTS: 

- Brent Huffman, Director of Saving Mes Aynak

- Gil J. Stein, Director of the Oriental Institute 

- Lawrence Rothfield, Faculty Director of the Past for Sale Project of the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society 

- Fahim Rahimi, Nation Museum of Afghanistan and Fulbright Fellow - University of Pennsylvania 

- Moderator: McGuire Gibson, Professor of Mesopotamian Archaeology, Oriental Institute

To help bring Saving Mes Aynak and it's important message to audiences around the globe, please support the filmmaker's ongoing Indiegogo campaign (ends JUNE 26th). Your support will allow them to raise global awareness of Mes Aynak's impending destruction, and help save and protect this world treasure from any harm: http://igg.me/at/SaveMesAynak

Chinese Threat to Priceless Buddhas - Mes Aynak in the Sunday Times!

The news of Mes Aynak and the global movement to save it is reaching audiences far and wide. Today, Mes Aynak was featured in the UK's The Sunday Times:

"DISCOVERIES at an ancient archaeological site in Afghanistan are posing a dilemma for the impoverished country as it seeks to exploit one of the world’s most lucrative copper deposits beneath the treasures..." CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING

YOU can join the global #SaveMesAynak movement today by supporting our ongoing Indieogogo campaign that ends SOON on June 26th! Please consider donating and sharing our important movement with your social networks: http://igg.me/at/SaveMesAynak

Brent Huffman's REDDIT AMA!

Director Brent Huffman paid a visit to the popular website Reddit for an A(sk) M(e) A(nything) interactive discussion on Friday, June 12th! It was an amazing discussion, with Brent answering questions from the public about Mes Aynak, Saving Mes Aynak, and yes, even what his favorite soup is. Apparently he loves lobster bisque.

You can read the full discussion here by clicking here

Don't forget that our Indiegogo campaign to #SaveMesAynak from destruction ends very soon on June 26th. Please consider supporting our campaign, and sharing it with your loved ones, friends, and social media networks. THE LINK: igg.me/at/SaveMesAynak

The Saving Mes Aynak Official Trailer!

We are proud to bring you the official trailer for Saving Mes Aynak! Thank you all for your incredible support; without you, this trailer would not be possible. Please join us in watching the film on July 1 - #SaveMesAynak Day - by supporting our effort through Indiegogo (donate by June 26th, 2015). Help us bring Saving Mes Aynak around the world, and mount an ambition campaign to halt Mes Aynak's Destruction and preserve it for future generations: http://igg.me/at/SaveMesAynak

SYNPOSIS:

The award-winning Saving Mes Aynak follows archaeologist Qadir Temori as he races against time to save a 5,000-year-old Buddhist archeological site in Afghanistan from imminent demolition by a Chinese State-owned mining company, who plan to destroy Mes Aynak to mine for $100 billion worth of copper.

Saving Mes Aynak, from Kartemquin Films, the producers of Life Itself and The Interrupters, examines the conflict between cultural preservation and economic opportunity, through the lens of the Afghan archaeologists and local villagers who live and work near Mes Aynak. Called, "a doc of crucial immediacy... advocacy filmmaking at its best and most chilling," by Indiewire, Saving Mes Aynak is both a powerful and moving film, and an inspiring call to action.

"UNITE #SaveMesAynak" Twitter and Facebook Banners!

Help raise awareness and share the story of Mes Aynak through our UNITE Twitter and Facebook banners! Simply right-click on the images to save, then upload to your profile.

Twitter banner!

Facebook banner!

Our Indiegogo #SaveMesAynak campaign to raise the funds we will need to share Saving Mes Aynak with the world and save this amazing site from destruction ends on June 26th at 11:59pm! Please donate to support the #SaveMesAynak movement: http://igg.me/at/SaveMesAynak

Saving Mes Aynak Chicago Premiere at Music Box Theatre!

We are thrilled to announce the Chicago premiere of Kartemquin Film’s newest award-winning documentary:

Saving Mes Aynak

June 2nd, 7:30 pm

Music Box Theatre

3733 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613

Saving Mes Aynak follows Afghan archaeologist Qadir Temori as he races against time to save the 5,000 year old Mes Aynak site - located within Afghanistan’s Taliban-controlled Logar Province - from imminent demolition by a Chinese state-owned mining company. With only 10% of Mes Aynak excavated, experts are comparing it to Pompeii, with archeological finds that have the potential to rewrite the history of Afghanistan and Buddhism itself. Yet it could be destroyed at any time.

VIP premiere tickets - $100 (Limited run! Details below)

General tickets - $10

Facebook event

Panelists: Director Brent E. Huffman; Producer Zak Piper; archeologist Dr. Gil Stein, director of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago; Lawrence Rothfield, University of Chicago Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature and Faculty Director, The Past for Sale Project, University of Chicago; and Dr. Morag Kersel, archaeologist and Assistant Professor in Anthropology at DePaul University.

Introduction by Elspeth Revere (MacArthur Foundation). Moderated by Anthony Kaufman.

Tickets are $10 through the Music Box website! Click here to purchase. We are offering a special group ticket price of only $8 per ticket for groups of 4 or more! If you would like to organize group ticketing, please email Eileen O’Donnell at savingmesaynak@kartemquin.com.

Also available are Limited VIP Chicago Premiere Passes that include two tickets, an exclusive reception with the filmmakers and panelists following the screening, a DVD, a tour of Kartemquin, and other special perks! All proceeds from the purchase of a VIP pass will go to our ongoing Saving Mes Aynak Indiegogo campaign, which is currently raising funds to save Mes Aynak from destruction and preserve this historic treasure for all future generations. 20% of every VIP Pass will also go directly to the Afghan archaeologists currently risking their lives to excavate and protect Mes Aynak. For more information on our global #SaveMesAynak Indiegogo campaign go to igg.me/at/SaveMesAynak.

Saving Mes Aynak is an affecting documentary that is at once both a powerfully-crafted film and an urgent call to social action. We hope you are able to join us for this special Chicago premiere, and add your voice to save this important cultural site.

“a doc of crucial immediacy… advocacy filmmaking at its best and most chilling… Saving Mes Aynak is simply required viewing.” - Indiewire

"Mes Aynak is the most important archaeological discovery in a generation, revealing an entire city dating 5,000 years." - Chicago Tribune.

We look forward to meeting you at the Music Box Theatre on June 2nd at 7:30pm!

Indiegogo Campaign

Brent Huffman and Saving Mes Aynak in the Huffington Post!

Director Brent Huffman wrote a powerful  editorial piece for the Huffington Post on our global fight to save Mes Aynak from destruction: 

"25 miles southeast of Kabul, Afghanistan near the border with modern-day Pakistan rests an ancient Buddhist city. This ancient city - named Mes Aynak, or "little copper well" - was once at the heart of the bustling Silk Road, the revolutionary trade route that tied together China, India, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Buddhists from all over Asia made pilgrimages to worship at Mes Aynak, and for thousands of years, it flourished as one of the most important cities in the region. As its importance waned through the centuries, it was slowly abandoned and eventually, this once mighty city was forgotten, its history lost to the sands of time...." CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING

You can help support Saving Mes Aynak and the global campaign to save this amazing heritage site through our ongoing Indiegogo campaign that ends on June 26th. Please consider donating, and sharing it with your friends, family, and social networks! LINK: http://igg.me/at/SaveMesAynak 

Saving Mes Aynak takes to Indiegogo to unite global supporters!

The Saving Mes Aynak team is launching a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, the world's largest crowdfunding platform, aimed to raise international pressure on the Chinese state-owned mining company, the Afghanistan government, and UNESCO, in a bid to save Mes Aynak - the 5,000 year-old Buddhist archaeological site - from imminent destruction.

The campaign, which launches this Monday, has a goal of raising $50,000 on the Indiegogo platform. Director Brent E. Huffman and documentary collective Kartemquin Films plan to distribute the film via VHX on July 1 for "Global #SaveMesAynak Day", with 10% of the raised funds going directly to funding archaeologists in preserving the site.

“The time to act is now. The world was outraged after the Taliban blew up the Buddhas of Bamiyan in 2001, and at the recent destruction by ISIS of the Mosul Museum in Iraq. My fear is that we’ll all gasp in horror when the site at Mes Aynak is permanently destroyed — but won’t do much when there was actually time to save it."

- Brent E. Huffman
Director, Saving Mes Aynak
 

Donations will go towards the film’s outreach and awareness efforts to put pressure on the Afghan government to overturn their decision, and a portion of every contribution will go directly towards the site and its courageous archeologists, who risk their lives everyday by entering the Taliban-controlled region.

In addition to the unprecedented #SaveMesAynak Day, which will allow audiences around the world to live stream the film together, Indiegogo supporters will be able to pre-order Saving Mes Aynak on DVD, Blu-Ray and for download, arrange community screenings, and contribute towards saving the site through the campaign’s many perks.
 

You can support the campaign today! Please visit: igg.me/at/SaveMesAynak. #SaveMesAynak.

This is our chance to MAKE HISTORY BY SAVING IT!

Full Frame Success for Saving Mes Aynak

Saving Mes Aynak is celebrating a great weekend at the Full Frame Documentary Festival, where it screened to a standing ovation and was followed by an impassioned Q&A from the sold out crowd.

Director Brent E. Huffman attended Full Frame with producer Zak Piper and executive producer Julia Reichert.

Brent began the weekend by speaking with Joe Corey of Inside Pulse, who covered the film and declared it, “the most important documentary showing at Full Frame this year.”

In his festival recap for PBS.org, an impassioned Tom Roston wrote: "I couldn’t help thinking of Indiana Jones as the film depicts archaeologists scraping away in the dust and sand. The film is also well paced, and the images are gripping... what’s it going to take for people to care about Mes Aynak? The actual visual of it being obliterated? Before it happens, we can’t muster up the indignation? Stupid."

Saving Mes Aynak at the Festival of Tolerance, Croatia!

Saving Mes Aynak joined the Festival of Tolerance in Croatia on April 14, at cinema Tuskanac in Zagreb.  The screening was followed by a discussion on the topic of "Identity, Culture and Heritage: the last obstacle to the capital," a great opportunity to discuss the stakes of heritage with panelists of Tajana Pleše, archeologist from Croatian Conservation Institute, Goranka Horjan, art historian and president of European Museum Forum; Jasen Mesić, archeologist, former minister of culture and member of Croatian parliament; Zrinka Paladino, architect from City of Zagreb Institute for the Conservation of Cultural and Natural Heritage; and Paola Orlić, art historian. We are grateful for this chance to share the film with Croatian audience and experts in the area!

Full Frame to screen Saving Mes Aynak on April 11!

Saving Mes Aynak will screen at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival on Saturday, April 11 at 12:50 pm! The festival, held in Durham, North Carolina from April 9 - 12, has announced its full 2015 Program Schedule.

Director/producer Brent Huffman and producer Zak Piper are very excited to take part at this prestigious festival, which comes just weeks after the Saving Mes Aynak U.S. Premiere on Saturday, March 28 at AmDocs (The American Documentary Film Festival).

Stay tuned for when tickets go on sale April 2!