{"id":62022,"date":"2013-09-19T18:50:52","date_gmt":"2013-09-19T18:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/community\/?p=3324"},"modified":"2013-09-19T18:50:52","modified_gmt":"2013-09-19T18:50:52","slug":"filmmaker-in-the-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2013\/09\/19\/filmmaker-in-the-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Filmmaker in the Spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Filmmaker Brent Huffman wears many hats when he\u2019s working on a project: director, producer, writer, photographer, editor.<\/p>\n

But for his latest film, he\u2019s taken on a new role: advocate.<\/p>\n

Huffman is using his film to try to build awareness for an ancient Buddhist monastery facing destruction.<\/p>\n

In The Buddhas of Mes Aynak,<\/em> Huffman documents the work of archaeologists as they try to preserve and rescue artifacts from Mes Aynak, a 2,600-year-old site in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Mes Aynak is the home of an ancient Buddhist complex located on the Silk Road that functioned as a trading hub and destination for Buddhists traveling on pilgrimage.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also the location of the world\u2019s second largest untapped copper reserve, with an estimated worth exceeding $100 billion.<\/p>\n

In order to extract the copper, two Chinese companies that won the mining rights to the site will destroy the ancient complex, along with six nearby villages. The mining project will also pollute the area, making it uninhabitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful, awe-inspiring site,\u201d said Huffman, who graduated with a B.F.A. in motion pictures from Wright State University in 2003 and is now an assistant professor at Northwestern University\u2019s Medill School of Journalism, where he teaches documentary production and theory.<\/p>\n

More than 400,000 square meters in size, Mes Aynak includes several monasteries, a fortress, and commercial and residential structures. Archaeologists have uncovered more than 400 Buddhist statues, over dozens of stupes or domed shrines, painted murals, hundred of coins, manuscripts, glass, and pottery.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Documentary filmmakers and husband and wife Brent Huffman (right) and Xiaoli Zhou with Zum Kang Tashe (left), also referred to as the Rinpoche, a direct descendant of the seventh Dalai Lama.<\/p><\/div>\n

After making a $3 billion bid in 2007, China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) and Jiangxi Copper Corporation (JCC), both of which are owned by the Chinese government, won the mining rights to Mes Aynak for 30 years. MCC officials have said they were unaware of the Buddhist site when they were awarded the contract, according to Huffman.<\/p>\n

For the last three years, archaeologists have performed \u201crescue archaeology\u201d using primitive tools and with limited funding to extract what artifacts they can.<\/p>\n

However, about 90 percent of the site remains underground and unexplored. Archeologists have told Huffman that it would take 30 years to properly document and excavate the site.<\/p>\n

This year, archaeologists caught a break when MCC gave them more time to work on the site. Huffman said it appears archaeologists may have access to Mes Aynak through the end\u00a0of 2013.<\/p>\n

In the spotlight<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although he\u2019s still editing the documentary, Huffman is using the film to raise awareness about Mes Aynak, to try to save the site itself, or, at least, to buy the archaeologists more time.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t live with myself if I just sat on this film and didn\u2019t use it to at least let an international audience know what was happening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Huffman has received attention from around the world for his work at Mes Aynak, including from the New York Times<\/em>, CNN, PBS NewsHour<\/em>, The World <\/em>radio program, and Tricycle: The Buddhist Review<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n

This spring, he screened rough cuts of The Buddhas of Mes Aynak<\/em> at Northwestern, the University of Chicago, Harvard University, UCLA, and the University of California, Irvine. He also plans to screen it in Toronto, Rome, and the Netherlands. Huffman hopes to complete the film this fall, then show it at film festivals and on U.S. and international television and online.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Afghan archaeologists work to preserve a 2,000-year-old Buddha head sculpted in the Gandhara style.<\/p><\/div>\n

Buddhist communities in Asia have rallied to the cause, thanks in part to Huffman\u2019s film and media appearances. In June, Huffman helped organize a protest in Los Angeles to raise awareness in Afghan and Buddhist groups in the United States about the plight of Mes Aynak.<\/p>\n

To both help pay for the film\u2019s production costs and generate publicity, Huffman launched a Kickstarter campaign. By spring, he had raised more than $35,000, 10 percent of which he donated to the Afghan archeologists to help them purchase digital cameras and computers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think in part because of all this media awareness,\u201d Huffman said, \u201cbecause of all this bigger public outcry, we were able to\u00a0get MCC . . . and the Afghan government to give archeologists\u00a0more time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not unusual for Huffman to work so hard on a documentary. \u201cEvery film I work on is really a passion project,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Life-changing experience<\/strong><\/p>\n

Huffman studied motion pictures at Wright State, where he worked closely with professors Julia Reichert, Steve Bognar, and James Klein. \u201cThe defining moment of my young career happened at Wright State,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Julia saw something in me early on,\u201d Huffman said. \u201cI was this shy, nervous student, and she took this interest in me and showed me that I had a talent and I could be this documentary filmmaker and have this future.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a student, Huffman worked as an assistant editor on Bognar and Reichert\u2019s award-winning documentary A Lion in the House<\/em>. The filmmakers also let Huffman use their camera and sound equipment while he worked as a student on a documentary about the Warren County, Ohio, prison.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Abdul Qadeer Temore, lead Afghan archaeologist, working on the large standing Buddhas.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t imagine that happening anywhere else,\u201d said Huffman, who remains close to Reichert and Bognar. \u201cThe film wouldn\u2019t have been made without that support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wright State\u2019s motion pictures program, Huffman said, provides an incredible amount of support to student filmmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstructors like Steve and Julia and Jim would do anything to see projects completed and to help students,\u201d he said. \u201cThey changed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Telling \u2018impossible stories\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Huffman specializes in social issues documentaries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and his work has aired on the National Geographic Channel, the Discovery Channel, CNN, PBS, Al Jazeera, and Current TV. He has received numerous awards including a Primetime Emmy, Best Conservation Film-Jackson Hole, Best Documentary-Fresno, three Cine Golden Eagle Awards, and a Grand Jury Award at AFI\u2019s Silverdocs.<\/p>\n

Initially, Huffman was attracted to the Mes Aynak project because of his experience in China. He had work in China examining the country\u2019s role around the world, and his last film, The Colony,<\/em> which he produced for Al Jazeera, looked at China\u2019s growing presence in Africa.<\/p>\n

He was interested in learning more about the Chinese employees living and working at Mes Aynak and their interactions with Afghans. \u201cOn top of that, you\u2019ve got this ancient Buddhist city that\u2019s going to be destroyed,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got this frantic race to save it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Huffman with Kabul police and residents of Chinarek, a village in volatile Logar province that is also threatened by the Chinese copper mine.<\/p><\/div>\n

He first visited Afghanistan in 2003, falling in love with the country and its people. \u201cIt\u2019s just an incredible place,\u201d he said. \u201cThe people are so warm and kind and giving. I think I\u2019m ultimately making this film for Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story of Mes Aynak, Huffman said, reflects the recent history of Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, there\u2019s a long history of conflict, over 30 years of continuous war,\u201d he said. \u201cCultural heritage gets destroyed all the time. The ultimate victims of destruction and exploitation are the Afghan people.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Mes Aynak were to be preserved, he believes that it could be significant resource and destination, like Machu Picchu, and could redefine the history of Afghanistan and Buddhism.<\/p>\n

Mes Aynak is 25 miles southeast of Kabul in Logar province. It once was the site of an al-Qaida training camp and is now surrounded by Taliban.<\/p>\n

Huffman describes the area as \u201cincredibly dangerous\u201d and difficult to access. You must go through many levels of approval, including from the Afghan Ministry of Culture and the Kabul police, to get permission to visit the site. Plus, it\u2019s in a mountainous desert region that is prone to flooding and often gets buried by snowstorms.<\/p>\n

Because the roads are so bad, it can take up to 90 minutes to get to Mes Aynak. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a scary 90 minutes through villages that support the Taliban,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Huffman usually travels to the complex by taxi to avoid attracting attention. However, he can\u2019t stay at the site overnight, since, after sunset, the area is regularly the target of rocket fire and landmines from the Taliban.<\/p>\n

Despite the danger, Huffman has traveled to Afghanistan four times to work on the film since 2011 and has visited Mes Aynak 25 to 30 times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m attracted to impossible stories that feel like they can\u2019t be told,\u201d he said, \u201cand this one felt like that\u2014and it still does.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Mes Aynak\u2019s culture and archeology are a significant part of the film, Huffman said the heart of the documentary is the archeologists who are risking their lives. For Huffman, documentary filmmaking provides him a means to tell people\u2019s stories.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be able to get close to these archeologists and access this site without making this film,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Filmmaker Brent Huffman wears many hats when he\u2019s working on a project: director, producer, writer, photographer, editor. But for his latest film, he\u2019s taken on a new role: advocate. Huffman is using his film to try to build awareness for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":60494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,747,4827,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-liberal-arts","category-magazine","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}