Although the historical development processes of human beings are different, there are always striking similarities, and the same is true for those mysterious ancient civilizations. What would happen if the Sanxingdui gold mask and the Tutankhamun gold mask suddenly opened their eyes and started a dialogue across time and space?

"When the Pharaoh Met Sanxingdui" poster

The cultural and historical documentary "When the Pharaoh Met Sanxingdui", produced by CGTN and the Egyptian National Television, constructs a dialogue between the two from the perspective of cultural mutual learning, and uses a vivid way to show the audience the diversity, uniqueness and uniqueness of ancient human civilization. charm. As the first documentary in China to explore the themes of Sanxingdui culture and ancient Egyptian civilization, this film tells the story of the same love and awe, similar praise and creation, and common beliefs and long-cherished wishes that humans in different regions and different civilizational backgrounds have for the world. .

It is understood that "When the Pharaoh Met Sanxingdui" has been produced in three language versions: Chinese, English, and Arabic. The Arabic version will be broadcast on the Egyptian National Television Satellite Channel and Channel 2 from November 6 to 12, 2023. The English version will be broadcast on the CGTN documentary channel from November 20 to 23, 2023. The Chinese version will be launched on CCTV Record Channel (CCTV-9) at 21:00 every day from December 25th to 28th.

In 1923, the tomb of Tutankhamun, the twelfth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty during the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, was discovered in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. The golden mask on his coffin has since become a symbol of ancient Egyptian civilization around the world. A representative "face".

The Sanxingdui site in Guanghan, China, which was first discovered in 1929, has revealed a mysterious corner of the ancient Shu culture that lasted for 2,000 years from the late Neolithic Age to the late Shang and early Zhou dynasties, and has become the best example of the diverse early Chinese civilization. One of the samples. Subsequently, bronze figures of various shapes and golden masks as thin as cicada wings were unearthed one after another, known as "the key to the spiritual world of the ancient Shu ancestors."

"Where do we come from?" "Where are we going?" "How do we view the world and how do we affect the world?"... In this series of documentaries, the "faces" representing two different civilizations - the Sanxingdui Golden Mask and Tutankhamun's gold mask, "meet" in multiple scenes.

"When the Pharaoh Met Sanxingdui" poster

In addition to 4K documentary shooting, this film also uses CGI synthesis technology to skillfully construct the perfect integration of cultural relics and the natural environment, presenting realistic and vivid visual effects; at the same time, it uses AI image generation technology to create unique and hyper-realistic visual scenes. , bringing a new visual impact and artistic enjoyment to the audience. In addition, the country's top documentary sound production team contributed to the original soundtrack and sound effects editing, using high-standard production with both visual and auditory parallelism, and finally presented a masterpiece with an international audio-visual language.

During the creative process, the team maintained close communication with relevant experts and scholars at home and abroad to ensure the correctness of the academic content and the directionality of the artistic creation. In the film, authoritative experts in the archaeological and historical circles of China and Egypt and relevant creative experiences were included in the film. Kunqu opera artists, VR painting creators, and educators conducted in-depth interviews to see the in-depth thinking caused by ancient civilization and discuss what a wonderful journey the ancient culture will take to recreate. Dr. Zahi Hawass, a leading figure in Egyptian archeology today, appeared for the first time in a Chinese humanities and history documentary, expressing his views on the theme of mutual learning between the two ancient civilizations of China and Egypt.

Egyptian archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass

Stills from "When the Pharaoh Met Sanxingdui"

In October 2023, the film will hold an overseas premiere ceremony at the Cairo Theater in Egypt. The film was broadcast on multiple columns of the Egyptian National Television, and the creative team accepted live interviews and reports from more than 20 mainstream Egyptian media. For a time, "the encounter between the two ancient civilizations of China and Egypt" and "exchanges and mutual learning of world civilizations" became hot topics.

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