The documentary film “OLDUVAI. The Cradle of Humankind” designed and produced by the University of Perugia School of Paleoanthropology and LeFucine Art & Media, is available on YouTube!
The School is available to present the documentary in museums, universities, schools and associations, organizations or institutions interested in human evolution. The film, which lasts about 45 minutes, is a tribute to Olduvai Gorge, paleoanthropological site among the most important in the world, where stone tools and fossil specimens (including the holotypes of Paranthropus boisei and Homo habilis) were discovered. There remains are fundamental to reconstruct the origin of our species.
Through a chronological reconstruction, the documentary tells the story of Olduvai, from its accidental scientific discovery in the early twentieth century to the formidable efforts of Louis and Mary Leakey, undisputed protagonists of modern paleoanthropology. Everything is contextualized in the geopolitical story: the two World Wars, the passage of those areas from German (Deutsche-Ostafrika) to English (Tanganyika) colony, until independence gained by Julius Nyerere and the subsequent birth of the United Republic of Tanzania, which is today an African model for the conservation policies of the natural, archaeological and paleontological heritage.
The documentary includes exclusive interviews with famous researchers who have worked in those places, such as Donald Johanson, the discoverer of Lucy, Jonathan Kingdon, world-renowned zoologist, Fidelis Masao of the University of Dar es Salaam, Jane Goodall, who worked with Louis Leakey at Olduvai before starting her pioneering research on chimpanzees, as well as contributions of Giorgio Manzi, Jacopo Moggi Cecchi, Olga Rickards, Telmo Pievani and Giacomo Corti.
For information:
Mirko Lombardi, School of Paleoanthropology of Perugia
email mirko.lombardi1@gmail.