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

Article Excerpt
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,...

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