“Im Land der Schwarzen Pharaonen” most successful archaeology film of the year
30.10.2006
The Swiss documentary film “Im Land der schwarzen Pharaonen” (In the land of the black pharaohs) by Stéphane Goël (Production: Climage, Geneva), won two awards in a row at festivals focusing on archeological films. It took home the Grand Prize at the International Archeology Festival “Icronos” in Bordeaux (10th edition from October 24 – 28, 2006), and the Bidasoa in Irun, Spain (6th edition from October 17 – 21, 2006). At the end of 2005, the film had already won the main prize at the archeology film festival in Brussels, and it received an honorable mention both in Kiel and Eugene (Oregon, USA). This constitutes the most successful festival run for a film within the historical and archeological festival arena.
Produced for television, the film “Im Land der schwarzen Pharaonen” (52 minutes) accompanies the Swiss archeologist Charles Bonnet and his team to archeological excavations that began in 1965 in Northern Sudan. This research has illustrated the importance of the Nubian civilization, the famous “black pharaohs”, and the first large African kingdom of Kerma, allowing the Sudanese people the discovery of a part of its history and identity amidst civil war. Additional screenings of the film are in the planning, such as in Oullins (France), and Thessaloniki (Greece).
Zurich, October 30, 2006
Zurich, October 30, 2006