Lane County’s longest-running film festival, The Archaeology Channel International Film Festival, opens its 19th annual edition on May 11th with the Festival Banquet at the Gordon Hotel in Eugene, Oregon. This edition represents another step in the growth of this event that brings international prestige to the local community.

The five-day event offers film screenings and will also feature expert speakers, a guided tour, TAC Conference on Cultural Heritage Media, and a Saturday social gathering, and will conclude with an awards reception on May 15th at the WOW Hall.

“The film-making world is producing more and more truly outstanding films about the human past and diverse cultures around the globe. These films are inspiring as well as entertaining. A central goal for us is to promote the development of this genre of film-making and to draw audiences to support it. Film-makers and TAC Conference presenters will come from many countries and US states,” says Festival Director and ALI head Rick Pettigrew. “Our2021 launch of Heritage Broadcasting Service gives film-makers another good reason to participate in Lane County’s longest-running film festival, as we are on the lookout for premium content to stream, and this competition is a perfect proving ground. This year’s lineup of films is outstanding in terms of diversity, innovation and quality film-making. We very much look forward to bringing people together safely to enjoy this wonderful form of storytelling.”

We accepted 77 film entries from 21 countries for our 19th season. The 19 films in the competition cover a variety of fascinating subjects from around the globe: places as far apart as Ireland and Malaysia and across the human timeline from the Minoan Bronze Age to the 1970s in Los Angeles. That’s just a start. How about the daring rescue of museum artifacts from war-torn Aleppo, the real story about who wrote the Bible, the struggle of people in the Himalayas to preserve their pristine environment, and an animated short drama about native life in Borneo? And we have much more!

Come to the Emerald City of Eugene from May 11th to the 15th and explore the wonders of human cultures past and present in the works of skilled media producers. The Archaeology Channel International Film Festival affords the viewer a chance to experience the world’s best cultural heritage films: visually rich, technically sophisticated works which are artistically produced and as entertaining as they are informative. It also provides a forum for media producers and others interested in the genre to share perspectives and form collaborations.

The following is a list and brief description of the films in this year’s Festival competition:

The 1001 Faces of Palmyra: The Lost Jewel of the Desert – Refound funerary portraits bring real people to life.

Burren Girl – Minnesota woman rediscovers her clan and her roots in beautiful, windswept County Clare, Ireland.

Caesar’s Doomsday War – Hard evidence reinterprets the daring conquest of Gaul and its rebellious Celtic people.

The Colosseum in Quarantine – Race against time to prepare the fragile giant to reopen in the time of COVID.

D’Artagnan: Searching for the Real Musketeers – The prolific life behind the legend of this adventurous hero.

Daughters of Courage – In the Amazon, an ancient shaman and three girls defend their jungle from wildcat miners.

The Mysteries of the Bayeux Tapestry – Revealing complex secrets of this immense, millennium-old, embroidery.

National Archaeological Museum of Naples: Treasury of Civilization – A voyage through incredible treasures derived from Pompeii, Herculaneum, Baiae, Magna Graecia, and other parts of the Classical world.

The Oath of Syriac – Daring archaeologists rescue priceless antiquities at Aleppo museum during intense civil war.

Parizad – Lonely old Iranian woman weaves ancient textile while telling the strange story of a fairy and a shepherd.

The Pillar of Strength – Animated coming-of-age story about family and tradition among Borneo’s native people.

Raymond Lewis: L.A. Legend – True story of a mythical basketball star from Watts, blackballed by the NBA.

Roman Engineering: Mining – Appetite for metal reaches a scale never imagined before Roman times.

Roman Engineering: Roads, The Neural Network of the Empire – A great empire required a fast and effective transportation network of a magnitude unprecedented in the history of humanity.

Songs of the Water Spirits – Society in breathtaking Himalaya mountains fights environmental degradation.

The Trace of Time – Poetic biography of Greek archaeologist Yannis Sakellarakis and his Minoan research.

The Trojan Horse: On the Trail of a Myth – Hard data on the question: did the Trojan horse really exist?

Who Wrote the Bible? Revelations about one of the Greatest Mysteries in History – The Dead Sea Scrolls, the study of its texts, scientific advances, and recent archaeology gradually lift the veil on this mystery.

William Waldren: The Alchemist’s Footprint – Avant-garde artist pioneers archaeological research in Mallorca.