Film festival finding fans as it digs archaeology out of the academic pit.

Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

In the past, The Archaeology Channel film festival was a bit of a mystery - a festival named after a channel that didn't come in on your TV set.

And just what is an archaeology film? Why would we want to watch a bunch of scientists dig holes and sift through dirt?

This wasn't about boring audiences with academia, festival director Richard Pettigrew patiently explained. This wasn't archaeology with a capitol "A." This was entertainment.

"It was time we shared what we have learned about archaeology with everyone else," he told The Register-Guard in 2003, the first year the festival was held at the McDonald Theatre. "I got tired of having my reports sitting on dusty shelves where no one would see them."

The films the first year ranged from dramas to documentaries to animated shorts to historical simulations. But some wondered whether some of the "films," which included 52-minute videos and other made-for-European TV productions, wouldn't be better off on the small screen. One reporter described it as "like the Discovery Channel run amok."

But with each passing year, the festival's identity has become a little clearer. The phrase "archaeology film" is used less in favor of terms such as "heritage film." The videos, Pettigrew told The Register-Guard in 2004, explored human cultural legacy.

Now, four years after it started, the Archaeology Channel Film Festival seems to have come into focus. Buoyed by the presence of one of the most recognizable last names in archaeology, plus a host of related cultural events - not to mention a trove of enticing films for lap-chair adventurers - the event is now harder to miss than the pyramid of Giza.

Pettigrew says the aims of the festival haven't changed much over the years, but even he admits, the public perception has evolved.

"It's grown dramatically in terms of local visibility," he says. "More and more people are aware of it. It's grown in terms of sponsors. It's grown in terms of people."

Pettigrew expects between 800 and 1,000 people at this year's event, which happens at the Shedd Institute. In addition to 21 films on everything from Homer to Hells Canyon, the festival features a keynote address by Louise Leakey, the granddaughter of the late archaeologist Louis Leakey, whose work in East Africa showed human evolution did not originate in Asia as was previously thought. A paleoanthropologist in her own right, Louise Leakey participated in the 1999 discovery of a 3.5 million-year-old skull and partial jaw thought to belong to a new branch of early hominids.

Among the films at this year's festival is "Proving Up and Settling Down," a short documentary about Hell's Canyon produced with the support of the Idaho Power company. The film examines the rich and brutal history of North America's deepest canyon, including the forced displacement of the Nez Perce tribe of Native American Indians and the massacre of 32 Chinese miners. The film title comes from the legalities of staking a homestead claim in the canyon. The Eugene showing is the film's first public screening. It can also be viewed at the archaeology Channel Web site (www.archaeologychannel.org).

Other films include "Prehistoric Saba," a short from the Netherlands about an archaeological dig on a Caribbean island; "Tibet Tibet," a Japanese production about one man's search for meaning in the Tibetan wilderness; "The Curse of Talakad," an Indian production about a 400-year-old curse rumored to have been placed by the wife of a defeated ruler; and "The Lost Ship of Venice," an American film about the 2001 discovery of a sunken galley ship filled with riches from the Far East.

You can view many of the films in streaming video format on the Archaeology Channel Web site. The Eugene Public Library will be showing films that were submitted but didn't make the cut at its "video bar," which runs daily from Wednesday through Friday.

Pettigrew calls this year's crop of films the best selection yet. For the first time, this year's festival includes films from East Asia, including Japan, Taiwan and China.

Following the screening of all 21 films, organizers will award a grand prize and an audience choice award. An awards reception will be held at the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts, 110 W. Broadway, on Saturday.

Although films are the main focus, Leakey's appearance has been a much anticipated aspect of this year's festival. Aware of her role as an archaeological torchbearer, she has alluded to the fact that she has "big shoes to wear" and an obligation to continue her family's legacy of research in paleoanthropology.

Exposed to fossil hunting and field expeditions from a young age, Leakey seems to have paleontology in her blood. She joined her parents, paleoanthropologists Meave and Richard Leakey, at the Turkana Basin research site in East Africa when she was just 2 weeks old. Now in her 30s, she leads annual expeditions to the site in northern Kenya and together with her mother, has been named a National Geographic "explorer-in-residence."

She says she sees her role as that of a team builder who will help take science forward and make it available for future generations. She is currently focused on building a new research station in the area and helping to raise money for a local school and medical center.

Leakey will be speaking about the origins of humanity when she comes to Eugene. She will also discuss her family's past and present research in East Africa and talk about the field of paleontology, Pettigrew said.

Leakey's appearance supports the broad aims of the Archaeology Channel Film and Video Festival and those of its parent organization, the Archaeological Legacy Institute. Pettigrew founded the organization in 1999 as a means of promoting archaeology and making it more accessible to the public. The Archaeology Channel is a free WEb-based resource offering free streaming video, audio and other links. The site is now among the top 10 most viewed archaeology sites on the WEb. In 2006, Pettigrew won the award for excellence in public education from the Society for American Archaeology.

A former staff member at the University of Oregon's Museum of Natural and Cultural History, Pettigrew earned a doctorate in archaeology from the UO. After years of working in the field, he became involved in bring together archaeology and technology on his Web site. After seeing several successful archaeology film festivals in Europe, he launched the Archaeology Channel's International Film and Video Festival. In addition to offering the kind of festival European audiences have been enjoying for years, the festival brings the Archaeology Channel's Web site into the physical world.

"Our mission," Pettigrew says, "is telling the human story."

Next year, the festival will move to the Hult Center's Soreng Theater, where Pettigrew hopes to screen some films in high definition. Looking further ahead, he says he would like to increase the profile of the festival even further. Someday, he says, it could be like the Bach Festival or the Eugene Celebration.

THE ARCHAEOLOGY CHANNEL INTERNATIONAL FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL

What: Films on ancient cultures and archaeology, plus special events.

When: Tuesday through Saturday.

Where: The Shedd, 868 High St.

How Much: Daily tickets are $15 on Tuesday, $8 on Wednesday through Friday and $12 on Saturday. Children 12 and younger are free.'

Keynote: Paleoanthropoligist Louise Leakey, granddaughter of archaeologist Louis Leakey, will give the keynote address at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Information: www .archaeologychannel.org; 345-5538.

OTHER EVENTS

Meet and greet: The Eugene Public Library hosts a free reception with Louise Leakey, 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday.

Other library events: Free symposium on heritage film featuring festival directors and film producers, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; free Native American storytelling session with Yoncalla storyteller Esther Stutzman, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; free screenings of archaeology films at a "video bar," 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.

Mock archaeology dig: Volunteers will host a mock dig near the River Play Area in Skinner Butte Park. Open to kids of all ages. Free; donations accepted. Call ahead: 345-5538 or 515-5976.

Day trek: Tony Farque, an archaeologist with the Sweet Home Ranger District, will host a trip to Cascadia Cave from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday. The cave features the largest group of tribal rock art panels in Western Oregon. The event is open to anyone age 12 and older and in good physical condition. Participants must have festival tickets; suggested donation is $20. Preregistration required: 345-5538 or 515-5976.