What is "CINARCHEA"?

Just as the artificial word "archaeology" was created in the 18th century to denote a new science dealing with ancient cultures, so the compound word CINARCHEA is intended as a signal for everyone interested in communicating archaeological knowledge, experience and reflections by means of the medium film.

Overview

The 5. International Archaeology-Film-Festival CINARCHEA took place in Kiel from April 24th-27th, 2002. It was mainly organized by the Arbeitsgruppe Film der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, the Association to support CINARCHEA, in cooperation with the Institute of Pre- and Protohistory and the Film Club Kiel e.V.

It was the only International Festival of its sort to take place in Germany. Though closely linked with the tradition of other European Archaeology Film Festivals, as there are AGON (Greece), ICRONOS (Bordeaux), KINEON (Brussels), FESTIVAL DU FILM D`ARCHÉOLOGIE AMIENS (France) and the RASSEGNA INTERNAZIONALE DEL CINEMA ARCHEOLOGICO in Rovereto (Italy), still the Kiel Festival had managed to establish its very own distinct profile.

Whom does CINARCHEA address to?

CINARCHEA was intended to be scientifically well founded just as much as to find acceptance as a popular festival. It provides opportunity for getting into contact, motivates communication and discussion, and all this not only for the professional audience and participants, the international experts (i.e. archaeologists, filmmakers, heads of museums and other institutions, journalists): it also tried to attract a broader public by offering an attractive programme of general interest, and thus project some of the fascination archaeology implies.

What topics dealt the films to be presented with?

Concerning the topics of the films, CINARCHEA setted up no restrictions, e.g. to a specific cultural period. Rather it intended to convey impressions of and insight into the immense complexity of the world of Archaeology and the Archaeological Film. Thus several distinct fields of research were presented: excavations, restorations, conservation methods, experimental-, aerial photo- and underwater-archaeology, to name but a few important ones. This complexity applied just as well to the manifold filmgenres, which all had a chance, as long as they fulfilled the essential selective criteria, to be putted on show: documentary films about specific cultural periods, objects and methods of research, which were even though the most traditional genre in respect to the topic more and more inspired by influences of all kinds ; feature-films, trick- and experimental films and computer-animated reconstructions. Lately it had become impressingly notable that films presenting – in very different fashions – artistic perspectives and approaches, inspiring, at times stunning insights into the world of archaeology have "grown up" from the arbitrary to a promising filmic variety of its own.

Summing it up: the Kiel festival putted on show well done yet conventional, "classic" documentary films just as experimental, even daring and provocative or, last not least more playful filmic efforts to communicate archaeological topics.

Still: the criteria of the international jury applied to all of them - scientific respectability and the filmic quality.

Competition

The quality and attractive potential of the Kiel festival was enhanced by means of an international competition concluding with an award ceremony. This competitive programme was supposed to portray outstanding more recent productions (from 1996 onward) of special distinction. During the festival an international jury of archaeologists, filmmakers, heads of museums, media-experts and journalists awarded several non-funded prizes:

• Grosser Preis for the best film of the festival
• Special Award of the Jury for the film of a young filmmaker and/or team, a prize to motivate their good work and encourage future projects
• Special Award for documentaries of excavations
• Special Award for didactics
• Special Award for films about Underwater-Archaeology. This award will be newly introduced at CINARCHEA 2000: this prize is further characterized by being handled as a kind of "challenge-cup"
• Special Prize of the Audience

Retrospective

CINARCHEA offered a retrospection of prize winning films of recent times and a rather spectacular kind of retrospective, namely of the "classics" of archaeological documentary film.

Videobar / Tape-shop

A videobar gave the audience, or rather the individual guest, the chance to view all films shown during the festival as well as those films not selected for the official programme. Naturally everyone was allowed to purchase video tapes of these films according to personal taste and interest.

The Symposium

As always the symposium was supposed to enhance communication and discussion, the exchange of ideas, perspectives and knowledge: participating to make use of this occasion were experts in more or less related subject-fields such as archaeologists, filmmakers, heads of museums and other institutes, journalists and media-experts. The theme of the symposium 2001 was: "Finds, films, false friends: Archaeological films working for profit and propaganda".

Catalogue

A bilingual (German/English) catalogue mainly covering the filmprogramme, giving detailed informations on each production and including several essays on topics related to the festival was published shortly before the festival: it was put on sale in bookshops or may be ordered and obtained at the Arbeitsgruppe Film der Christian- Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.