Saving Mes Aynak

Saving Mes Aynak
Directed byBrent Huffman
Produced byBrent Huffman
Zak Piper
Xiaoli Zhou
CinematographyBrent Huffman
Edited byBrent Huffman, Matt Lauterbach
Music byHomayoun Sakhi
Production
company
German Camera Productions Kartemquin Films
Distributed byIcarus Films (US)
AutLook FilmSales (Int'l)
Release date
  • November 2014 (2014-11) (IDFA)[1]
Running time
58 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
A view of Mes Aynak

Saving Mes Aynak is a 2014 independent documentary film, directed, produced, shot and edited by Brent E. Huffman.[2] It was produced out of Kartemquin Films, the landmark Chicago-based documentary house, along with producer Zak Piper.[3]

It focuses on Afghan archaeologist Qadir Temori and his struggle to save Mes Aynak, a 5,000-year-old archaeological site in Afghanistan which faces demolition.[4] Saving Mes Aynak was the 2014 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Grant in 2014.

Saving Mes Aynak premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in November 2014.[5] It later aired on Al Jazeera America and Al Jazeera English networks in July 2015 and was also broadcast on multiple other networks in various countries.[4][6] In 2016, Saving Mes Aynak premiered on Netflix.

"Saving Mes Aynak" has won over 30 major awards and has been broadcast on television in over 70 countries. It can currently be seen on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and on Special Edition DVD with Icarus Films. The film was directed by Brent E. Huffman. He was awarded The International Academic Forum Documentary Film Award and Reva and David Logan Foundation Grant in 2015 in part for his work on the film.[7]

  1. ^ "Saving Mes Aynak to world premiere at IDFA 2014".
  2. ^ "News for Saving Mes Aynak". kartemquin.com. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  3. ^ "The Filmmakers of Saving Mes Aynak". kartemquin.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  4. ^ a b "Saving Mes Aynak". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference NWU-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Saving Mes Aynak". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  7. ^ "The IDFA Honorary Award 2015". IAFOR Documentary Film Award. Retrieved 2016-01-25.