Over the past fifty years, beautifully carved sculptures and exquisitely painted ancient Maya ceramics have flooded into the world's public and private collections. The images and texts have opened windows onto Maya life, literature, mythology, and history. Because most of these came to light by looting, however, they also raise profound practical and ethical questions. A Painted World is a feature documentary that celebrates the artistry of these monuments and vases and explores the tangled moral and economic issues involved in the excavation, collection, and study of ancient Maya art, as well as the breakthroughs that are illuminating the meanings of these precious objects. The story is told through interviews with archaeologists, villagers, and former looters in Central America; scholars unlocking the meaning of hieroglyphs and scenes painted by master Maya artists; scientists using a nuclear reactor to determine the chemical composition of ancient ceramics; and art dealers, collectors, and museum curators—including Princeton University Art Museum curator Bryan R. Just.
Join us for a preview screening of A Painted World. Director David Lebrun will attend.
Night Fire Films Partner and Producer ROSEY GUTHRIE has had a diverse twenty year background in film production and distribution. As VP of First Light Video Publishing from 1988 to 1996, she created and implemented marketing and distribution plans for a catalog of over two hundred educational films on the media arts. From 1997 to 2003 she was VP and General Manager of Panavision Remote Systems, a film equipment rental house. Ms. Guthrie has served as Associate Producer on over fifteen educational and instructional films, as Producer on Breaking the Maya Code for Night Fire Films and as Director of Development for the PBS series Craft in America.
