[Aztlan] Announcing Breaking the Maya Code: the movie

[David Lebrun]

Dear fellow listeros,

Night Fire Films is pleased to announce the completion of the feature  
length film "Breaking the Maya Code", a history of the Maya  
decipherment based on the book of the same title by Michael Coe.  The  
film premiered in high definition HD projection at the Maya Meetings  
in Austin, and has since had its international premiere at the  
International Festival of Films on Art in Montreal.

A 50-minute adaptation of the 2-hour film will be shown April 8 on  
the PBS series NOVA, under the title "Cracking the Maya Code".  While  
we have not seen the finished television program, we believe the NOVA  
staff are doing a good job of squeezing an epic story into a small  
format.   Additionally, ARTE France will be airing a 90-minute  
television adaptation in Europe later this year.

Breaking the Maya Code has been eleven years in the making.  It  
originated with a conversation between director David Lebrun and  
author Mike Coe at the 1997 Maya Meetings, and began production with  
extensive interviews with Linda Schele in fall 1997.   The project  
gathered an advisory board including Mike as principal adviser  
together with Federico Fahsen, Bill Fash, Nikolai Grube, Steve  
Houston, Simon Martin, Peter Mathews, Mary Miller, Bob Sharer, George  
Stuart, David Stuart, Karl Taube, Barbara Tedlock and Evon Vogt.   
Under the non-profit sponsorship of the Precolumbian Art Research  
Institute (PARI), funding was eventually acquired from the National  
Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, and  
ARTE France.  Principal photography began in December 2004, and  
shooting eventually took us to over 40 locations in nine countries.    
The lengthy post production process involved editing the complex  
story down to just under two hours running time and the creation of  
over three hundred graphic and animated sequences.  We are proud of  
the result and think it will be of interest to all members of Aztlan.

We are currently arranging further exhibition of the two-hour version  
at festivals, museums, schools, conferences and possibly in  
theatres.   Scheduled screenings to date include an April screening  
at Cinarchea, the archaeology film festival in Germany, a September  
screening with Mike Coe at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and an  
October screening at the Maya Symposium in Irvine, California.  The  
film is best seen on the big screen, and we are open to invitations!

A DVD of the two-hour version will be available soon.  The DVD will  
give you the option of screening the film in full or in eight  
separate chapters for modular classroom use.  We will notify the  
Aztlan list  as soon as the 2-hour DVD is available.  NOVA's version  
will also be available shortly from their web site; to avoid  
confusion please be clear that "Breaking the Maya Code" is the 2-hour  
feature and "Cracking the Maya Code" is the shorter NOVA adaptation.

Meanwhile, if you have questions or input, please feel free to get in  
touch with us directly.

David Lebrun
(writer, director, producer)
lebrun at nightfirefilms.org

Rosey Guthrie
(producer)
guthrie at nightfirefilms.org

Night Fire Films
3711 Ocean View Ave.
Los Angeles CA 90066
310-821-9133