“The Oath of Cyriac” movie wins first prize at the 19th Festival of Archaeological Cinema in Italy

“The Oath of Cyriac” movie on Friday won the 1st prize of the Valley Of The Temples Archaeological Park at the 19th edition of the Festival of Archaeological Cinema held in the Italian city of Agrigento.

The film, directed by Olivier Bourgeois supported by the Syrian Ministry of Culture, is a docudrama based on a breathtaking true story of Syrian heroes who defended the identity and memory of the Syrian people against terrorism which targeted the human heritage in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

The movie tells the story of a small group of archaeologists, museum curators and attendants who struggle to save the monumental collections of the Museum of Aleppo during the terrorist war on Syria, particularly in 2015. The group aims to preserve the artifacts which numbered around 24,000 pieces of antiquities from the Museum of Aleppo, challenging the shells and sniper bullets fired by terrorists. Members of the group spend days and nights without electricity or water inside the Museum trying relentlessly to accomplish their humanitarian mission and hide the archeological treasures so that the terrorist and looters can’t reach them.

“The Oath of Cyriac” film has won more than 18 international awards in international festivals since its first screening in 2021 to the present day.

The film has recently been screened at the “Damascene Rose… from Syria to Turin” cultural event held in Italian city of Turin.

Hamda Mustafa