Bégoin, Stéphane

More than 600 years ago, Zhu Yuanzhang reigns over all of China after defying the Mongols. Victorious, he builds a political movement, proclaims himself emperor and founds, in thesame year, the Ming dynasty, and at this occasion the return of a Chinese family at the head of the Empire. But his desire for greatness did not stop there: he decided to build an imperialcity, the first Forbidden City. 2021. For 5 years, Chinese archaeologists have been mobilizing important means to discover the history of this site andstart ambitious reconstruction operations. The studied city turns out to be gigantic, even more important than the Forbidden City of Beijing!

How did the pirates live, who were they beyond the legend? To answer this, our film follows two exceptional archaeological research missions to Mauritius and Madagascar. Until now, only a few pirate shipwrecks have been discovered. Today, in the western Indian Ocean, a team of archaeologists is conducting underwater studies in search of the remains of the Speaker, a famous pirate ship that sank in 1702... On land, complementary research is being carried out on Sainte-Marie Island, where pirates used to hide and live. Their research provides us with clues and tangible evidence of the mysterious lives of these men.Presentation by Mertxe Urteaga, archaeologist and member of the jury, and Ander Arrese, archaeologist at Suhar.

In the heart of the Guatemalan jungle, an international team of scientists excavated Naachtun for the first time, the last city of the Maya golden age. Isolated for weeks, with their work the archaeologists discover the reasons for the exceptional longevity of this city, which survived for 200 years after the collapse of its thriving neighbours. Official Section. Place: Amaia K.Z. (Irun)

The Preventive Archaeology programmes associated to the construction of the French A19 highway (Burgundy) has allowed 250 archaeologists to work for 18 months on the different sites discovered over the 101 km covered by the new road. From prehistoric times through to the 15th century, the A19 has become a machine which takes us back in time.

The interpretation of Palaeolithic rock art has been tackled from many points of view, covering different theoretical positions and widely differing results. In this film Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez proposes a new interpretation of Palaeolithic rock art based on astronomical observation.

The Magi are surely one of the most popular mythical figures of the Western world. Its history, dating back to the origins of Christianity, has been incorporating new and old ideas to the brief account given by Matthew in his gospel. In the light of current knowledge, not just historical or theological, but also astronomical or art history itself, this documentary seeks to explain the reality behind the legend of the Three Magi.

In the New Empire of Ancient Egypt, the only woman to reign, Pharaoh Hatshepsut, promoted a series of expeditions of a commercial nature to the far-off Land of Punt. In the temple of Deir el-Bahari a series of reliefs has been conserved with images of the naval expeditions. Thanks to these, a team of archaeologists has been able to build a replica of an Egyptian ship from 1500 BC. However, the real challenge appears when they try to sail the experimental ship…