Filmmaker Tim Slade’s adaptation of Robert Bevan’s acclaimed 2006 nonfiction book details the intentional destruction of architecturally significant sites by forces seeking to obliterate traces of cultural heritage. The practice was used with brutal effectiveness in 20th-century crimes, including the 1938 Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany and the 1990s Balkan War (particularly the destruction of the iconic Mostar bridge). In the current century, radical terrorist groups occupying war-torn Iraq and Syria and sections of Mali have gone out of their way to demolish ancient structures and artifacts from the pre-Islamic era as part of their reigns of terror. Architect Daniel Libeskind points out that these actions have a cruel logic: "One of the ways to remove history is to get rid of all physical traces of history and make believe nothing ever happened—nothing was ever there." The Destruction of Memory also looks at the California company CyArk, which uses 3D scanning technology to create digital records of at-risk ancient sites. Unfortunately, solutions do not exist; international law cannot be easily enforced and few individuals have ever been brought to justice for this type of extreme vandalism. A complex and often heartbreaking documentary showing humankind at some of its worst, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)
The Destruction of Memory
(2016) 85 min. DVD: $390. Icarus Films. PPR. Closed captioned. Volume 33, Issue 4
The Destruction of Memory
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