A film by Michael Tauchert and Gisela Graichen
Millions of years ago, a meteor shot towards earth and crashed down on Yucatan, now a part of Mexico. It put an end to the reign of the dinosaurs, and created a vast subterranean system of caves that are partially linked to the Atlantic, a treacherous and largely unexplored submarine world.
About 2000 years ago, this was the realm of the Mayan high culture, whose stone buildings, palaces and pyramids keep enthralling more than just scientists ever since their re-discovery in the dense forest.
The movie, originally intended as a search for undiscovered Mayan sites, burial caves, and subterranean ritual sites, developed into a thriller that became more and more fantastic and spooky.
Backstage
Director of photography: | Robert Dinges, Clemente Herrera Escobedo |
Assistant camera: | Oliver Sachs, Kristof Schneider |
Film editor: | Jens Warnecke |
Location manager: | Moritz Widmann, Ortolf Karla |
Executive producer: | Jörg Kunkel |
Program manager: | Gudrun Ziegler, ZDF |
Head of production: | Ulrich Lenze |
To be aired on: | ZDF, February 26, 2006 |
A film by Peter Prestel and Gisela Graichen
When Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C. at the age of 32, he left behind an empire created in only twelve years, together with unfathomable treasures.
Probate disputes and fighting forged the following centuries. His field marshals, called diadochs, shared the loot. Ancient historians Diodor and Strabon speak of a mysterious hidden mountain fortress called “Kyinda” in Kilikia, supposedly harboring the war treasury of diadoch Seleukus. A mere legend? Until today, the place has not been discovered, the treasure gone without a trace. We accompany the team of Schliemann’s Heirs into Turkey, into Kilikia, where on the mountain of Karasis, rising to almost 2000 meters altitude, the ruins of a huge fortress have been uncovered, with walls and towers almost 15 meters high.
Backstage
Director of photography: | Steffen Böttrich |
Assistant camera: | Max Schecker, Resa Asarschahab |
Film editor: | Susanne Strobel |
Location manager: | Moritz Widmann, Tevfik Ekiz, Hasan Erdogan |
Executive producer: | Jörg Kunkel |
Program manager: | Gudrun Ziegler, ZDF |
Head of production: | Ulrich Lenze |
To be aired on: | ZDF, March 5, 2006 |
A film by Peter Prestel and Gisela Graichen
Cossacks, the wild riders of the East, have been accompanied by a myth ever since their first appearance in the 15th century. Their history is full of unlucky coalitions, devastating defeats, fleeing, being driven away, and banishment.
This expedition of Schliemann’s Heirs leads to the focal points of Cossack history in the Ukraine, in Russia, and into the Alps of Eastern Tyrol, keeping track of the latest excavations, that aim to bring out the truth behind the myth after decades of silence.
Backstage
Director of photography: | Steffen Böttrich |
Assistant camera: | Max Schecker, Resa Asarschahab |
Film editor: | Susanne Strobel |
Location manager: | Sven Heiligenstein, Patrick Jung |
Executive producer: | Jörg Kunkel |
Program manager: | Gudrun Ziegler, ZDF |
Head of production: | Ulrich Lenze |
To be aired on: | ZDF, March 12, 2006 |
A film by Dirk Laabs and Gisela Graichen
The legendary desert people ruled over the heart of the Sahara for more than a century. Ancient historians speak of a mighty capital city, of huge fortresses, and of exotic animals for the arenas of the Roman Empire.
Schliemann’s Heirs accompanies teams of scientists in Libya to their work in the desert, where they find traces of the sunken kingdom everywhere. They are trying to find answers to the questions of where to the desert people disappeared, and whether there still are descendants of the Garamants alive today.
Backstage
Director of photography: | Steffen Böttrich |
Assistant camera: | Nicolai Kubicek, Resa Asarschahab |
Film editor: | Kai Zwede |
Location manager: | Sven Heiligenstein, Awad Elkish |
Executive producer: | Jörg Kunkel |
Program manager: | Gudrun Ziegler, ZDF |
Head of production: | Ulrich Lenze |
To be aired on: | ZDF, March 26, 2006 |
A film by Michael Tauchert
Around the year 1500, the Incas ruled the biggest empire of its time at the Pacific coast and the Andes. How far it spanned into the east is unknown until today. What was the Incas’ relationship towards the allegedly savage nations of the Amazon region? Known maps of the Incas’ system of roads end at that point. Was that where a no man’s land began? Where exactly did the borders of the Inca Empire run? The Incas had a system of roads 40.000 kilometers in length, and unique throughout the world. They knew neither wheels nor scripture, and their messages were conveyed through relay runners. The messages were encoded via a combination of knots, but the art of decoding it died out. Archeologists have not yet succeeded at solving the mystery of this assemblage of knots. Finnish, American, and German archeologists are searching for the “Incan Limes”, hand in hand with “Schliemann’s Heirs”. One thing is certain: 400 kilometers east of what had been thought to be the border of their empire, archeologists discovered proof of an Incan “Golden Road”. Therefore, their empire was evidently even larger than previously known.
Backstage
Conceptionalized and written by | Gisela Graichen |
Directors of photography: | Klaus Medrow, Jan Prillwitz, Maximilian Schecker |
Film editor: | Jens Warnecke |
Editorial staff: | Jean-Christoph Caron |
Production management: | Jörg Kunkel |
Location manager: | Moritz Widmann |
Assistant Producer: | Eva-Maria Imlau |
Program manager: | Gudrun Ziegler, ZDF |
Head of production: | Ulrich Lenze |
To be aired on: | ZDF, 01/11/2004 |
A film by Peter Prestel
In 1983, the owner of Spillings, an estate in the east of the Island of Gotland, discovered the world’s greatest Viking treasure ever to be found, consisting of 55 kilograms of silver altogether. The archeologists’ and “Schliemann’s Heirs’” quest leads into the east. Because: Many findings made on Gotland can be traced back into the vastness of Russia.
The legendary road “from the Varingr to the Greeks” leads from the Baltic Sea via Russia’s rivers to rich and golden Byzantium. On the shores of the Wolchow, the Dnepr, and the Wolga, archeologists found runes on swords and drinking horns, traces of Odin and Thor.
“Schliemann’s Heirs” follow the route of the Vikings via Novgorod, and Tchernigow, on to formerly marvelous Kiev. There, they also find proof of the Vikings. These clever merchants and brave warriors even mastered the rapids of the Dnepr. They returned home laden with silver, but some of them stayed – as co-founders of a new empire.
Backstage
Conceptionalized and written by | Gisela Graichen |
Directors of photography: | Steffen Böttrich, Maximilian Schecker, Resa Asarschahab
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Film editor: | Susanne Strobel |
Editorial staff: | Jean-Christoph Caron |
Production management: | Jörg Kunkel |
Location manager: | Sven Heiligenstein |
Assistant Producer: | Eva-Maria Imlau |
Program manager: | Gudrun Ziegler, ZDF |
Head of production: | Ulrich Lenze |
To be aired on: | ZDF, 01/18/2004 |
A film by Gisela Graichen and Peter Prestel
On the Island of Pantelleria, and in the former Punic colonies on Sicily, “Schliemann’s Heirs” follow the tracks of the antique world power of the Phoenicians (Carthaginians).
Carthage, one of their foundings, once used to be Rome’s greatest rival, until it was entirely destroyed by Roman soldiers in 146 B.C. Nothing was to be left intact, that could be a reminder of the hated enemy – neither palace nor temple, neither house nor street nor wall.
Further to the northeast, towards Sicily and only 70 kilometers off the African Coast, on the Island of Pantelleria, archeologists nevertheless find a multitude of Punic remnants. The Acropolis, the houses, the city walls, still lie buried in Pantelleria’s ground in the way they were abandoned over 2000 years ago.
In Carthage’s colonies lie the lost documents – as if safely stored in a time capsule – that scientists strain very hard to dig up in Carthage itself. And it is also here that Schliemann’s heritage actually becomes reality: during the shooting for this production, a spectacular find is made – a bust of Julius Cesar, a rare portrait of the great captain. A sensation – and yet another occasion to dream of future discoveries.
Backstage
Directors of photography: | Steffen Böttrich, Maximilian Schecker, Resa Asarschahab
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Film editor: | Susanne Strobel |
Editorial staff: | Jean-Christoph Caron |
Production management: | Jörg Kunkel |
Location manager: | Moritz Widmann |
Assistant Producer: | Eva-Maria Imlau |
Program manager: | Gudrun Ziegler, ZDF |
Head of production: | Ulrich Lenze |
To be aired on: | ZDF, 01/25/2004 |
A film by Michael Harder and Peter Prestel
In 64 B.C., Pompejus the Great severely defeated the armies of Syrian ruler Antiochus XIII, and founded the Roman province of Syria in the area of the Euphrates. The Romans opened up the conquered territory through a network of over 1000 kilometers of roads, securing it with a Limes consisting of fortified towers, military encampments, and castles. Until today, the exact location and the defense measures of the Limes are largely unknown. How did the Romans manage to maintain their position of supremacy in the Middle East for almost 700 years?
The scientists study Qasr Bushir from the air, the best-preserved castle of the Roman Empire. In the middle of the desert aboard their helicopter, they discover the formerly important Roman road Nova Trajana – a stone highway of the antique, today almost completely blown over with sand.
Along the shores of the Euphrates, our archeologists uncover the scattered remnants of former border-fortresses: this place was the center stage for dramatic rearguard action of the Romans in their continuous wars against the oriental empires of the Persians and the Parthians. In a remote stretch of land, there is a glorious desert castle of the Omaijads from the 7th century. The Arabian castle has a rectangular floor plan. “Schliemann’s Heirs” uncover oriental evidence of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.
Backstage
Conceptionalized and written by | Gisela Graichen |
Directors of photography: | Roland Breitschuh, Steffen Böttrich, Thomas Bianga, Maximilian Schecker, Resa Asarschahab
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Film editor: | Susanne Strobel |
Editorial staff: | Jean-Christoph Caron |
Production management: | Jörg Kunkel |
Location manager: | Sven Heiligenstein |
Assistant Producer: | Eva-Maria Imlau |
Program manager: | Gudrun Ziegler, ZDF |
Head of production: | Ulrich Lenze |
To be aired on: | ZDF, 02/01/2004 |
