Underplayed Gems

Once Upon a Time in Mesopotamia (1998)

Once Upon a Time in Mesopotamia poster
Directed by
Jean-Claude Lubtchansky
Genre
documentary film
Country
France
Runtime
52 min
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

This documentary tells the story of the archaeologists and scholars who uncovered the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. It follows the early explorers and linguists as they deciphered forgotten languages and unearthed lost cities.

educationalinformativeleisurely-pacedreflectivehistoricalnarrator-ledarchivalcontemplative

What happens

Once Upon a Time in Mesopotamia (French: Il était une fois la Mésopotamie; German: Es war einmal in Mesopotamien) is a 1998 French documentary film adapted from the nonfiction book of the same name by French Assyriologist Jean Bottéro and archaeologist Marie-Joseph Stève. Directed by Jean-Claude Lubtchansky who also co-wrote the screenplay, and co-produced by Trans Europe Film, La Sept-Arte, Éditions Gallimard, Louvre Museum and La Cinquième, with voice-over narration by French actors François Marthouret, Corinne Jaber and the director, the documentary is structured like an adventure film, taking viewers into the world of the first discoverers, epigraphists and Assyriologists who revealed Mesopotamian archaeology to the modern world. The film was broadcast on Arte on 30 May 1998, as part of the channel's television programme The Human Adventure, and rebroadcast on La Cinquième on 4 and 5 June of the same year. In addition to German dubbing, the documentary has been subtitled into English and Spanish, and released on DVD by Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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