"The time to act is now. My fear is that we'll all gasp in horror when the Mes Aynak site is destroyed but won't do much when there was actually time to save it." - Brent Huffman, Director, Saving Mes Aynak

The award-winning film Saving Mes Aynak uncovers a 5,000 year-old Bronze age site and 2,000 year-old Buddhist Silk Road city in Afghanistan threatened with destruction by a Chinese copper mining company chasing corporate profits. 

Join us in watching this award-winning film on #SaveMesAynak Day - July 1 2015!

#SaveMesAynak Day will spark worldwide protest, conversation, and action. It will launch a long-term educational campaign to reach as many people as we can. After the world watches the film together on July 1, I hope to travel to Kabul and present both the film and a petition of 100,000 signatures to President Ghani, his government, and to the people of Afghanistan. We plan to show the film to UNESCO officials, and the international community of those with the power to ensure this magnificent Buddhist archeological site is preserved. 

10% of all donations will go directly to the Afghan archeologists at the site to aid them in their efforts. If we reach our goal, that percentage will double to 20%!

Help us save Mes Aynak for future generations!

Why We Must Save Mes Aynak 

Mes Aynak (“little copper well” in Pashto) is a mountainous site in the Taliban-controlled Logar Province, Afghanistan, 25 miles southeast of Kabul near the Pakistan border. Mes Aynak contains the ancient remains of a 2,000-year-old Buddhist city, on top of a 5,000-year-old Bronze Age site. Massive, at nearly 500,000 sq. meters, this historic Buddhist city contains dozens of unique and never-before-seen stupas and temples, thousands of artifacts, and around 600 large Buddha statues – similar to those destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 at Bamiyan. Although only 10% of the site has been excavated, the discoveries are already rewriting the history of Buddhism, Afghanistan, and us - who we are as human beings. Just imagine what is still there, waiting to be re-discovered and shared with the world. 

Mes Aynak, however, sits on the second largest copper deposit in the world.

In 2007, the Afghan government sold Mes Aynak to a Chinese State-owned mining company, eager to harvest an estimated $100 billion dollars worth of copper buried directly beneath the archaeological ruins. To get to this copper, however, would mean blowing up Mes Aynak and reducing it - and an entire mountain range - to rubble. It would mean the forced evacuation and relocation of countless native Afghans from the area, who will never be able to return to their homes due to toxicity from the mining. It would mean erasing from the face of the Earth all of the culture and history that Mes Aynak contains. 

Archaeologists estimated that the full excavation of Mes Aynak would take 30-40 years, but were only given three sporadic years by the Chinese mining company. In a rush to save and preserve as much as they can, the archaeologists are being forced to perform rescue archeology, a form of excavation meant to salvage as much as possible in a short amount of time... but it can be just as destructive as looting. To preserve their cultural history, these archeologists risk their lives everyday by working in areas full of hidden landmines, and under constant death threat from the Taliban. Little money has been given to them, leaving them without necessary equipment like computers, cameras, chemicals, and many months without pay. 

THE FILM

Our award-winning film Saving Mes Aynak follows archaeologist Qadir Temori as he races against time to save this 5,000-year-old Buddhist archeological site in Afghanistan from imminent demolition. 

THROUGH UNITY COMES STRENGTH

For the past five years, the effort of director Brent E. Huffman through Saving Mes Aynak has played a vital role in delaying the demolition of this historical treasure, but again time is quickly running out. The Chinese State-owned mining company still has immediate plans to destroy Mes Aynak, and it could happen AT ANY MOMENT.  Now, the only way for Mes Aynak to be saved is if the Afghan government intervenes, halts mining, and officially petitions to UNESCO to make Mes Aynak a World Heritage Site. Only the Afghan government can approach UNESCO. 

Through our film Saving Mes Aynak, our major goal is to raise mass awareness of the impending demolition, creating an international movement to put pressure on the mining company, the Afghanistan government, and UNESCO to make Mes Aynak a World Heritage Site.

This is the ONLY WAY to #SAVEMESAYNAK.

The more funds we raise, the more people will see the film and know the beauty and importance of Mes Aynak, and the greater the chance of Mes Aynak being saved. To do this, the focal point of our campaign is #SaveMesAynak Day on July 1st, a global event where supporters everywhere will stream the film and stand in unity together to save Mes Aynak. Through social media, we plan to use this day to spark worldwide protest, conversation, and action. After that, we will mount an ambitious outreach effort through our film to reach as many people as we can. The more awareness we can raise, the larger the pressure we can put on the Afghan government to stop the demolition, and to formally petition UNESCO. This way, we can ensure Mes Aynak's safety for future generations. 

In addition to saving the site, our goals through Saving Mes Aynak are to educate the public about Afghanistan's rich cultural heritage through screenings of the film, and help strengthen the Archeology Department of the Afghan Ministry of Culture to better protect Mes Aynak and other important sites in Afghanistan. 

We know the world was heartbroken by the recent destruction by ISIS of the Mosul Museum, the Tomb of Jonah, the ancient city of Nimrud, and other cultural heritage sites in Iraq. The same level of destruction is happening at Mes Aynak. However, unlike those sites, you can do something about this. You can play a direct role in helping to preserve this priceless historical treasure.

Let's work together, and make history by saving history. 

OUR GOAL

We are seeking $50,000. We believe that this will allow us to achieve our outreach goals towards saving Mes Aynak. Anything beyond that goal will also allow us to take the message even further, globally. Your support will drive these facets of our activism and outreach strategy:

ADVOCACY & EDUCATION

Along with our partners Matin Wasei and Nadia Tarzi (Association for the Protection of Afghan Archaeology), we will continue to forge partnerships with respected organizations who are committed to engaging their audience members in action around the film, and use it to advise the public on protecting Mes Aynak. We will write letters of interest to press encouraging support and advocacy, participate in educational expos, conferences, and panels, and find ways to host screenings of the film and discussions of Mes Aynak, particularly in educational institutions. On social media, we will further our advocacy by continuing to raise awareness surrounding Mes Aynak, and act as the anchor in the movement to save and preserve the site. 

CHANGE.ORG PETITION

We will continue to grow the number of signatures on our Change.org petition, created in 2012 by our partner Matin Wasei. It currently sits at nearly 82,000, but we need to reach 100,000 signatures as soon as possible. When we do, Brent E. Huffman will travel to Afghanistan to present the petition to President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani. It is our hope that this petition, along with the thunderous cries of protest from around the world, will persuade the Afghanistan government to approach UNESCO, and make Mes Aynak a World Heritage Site. 

SCREENING EVENTS  

We will continue to arrange screenings of Saving Mes Aynak around the world, and participate in strategically planned events at film festivals and conferences. This includes events such as panel discussions with experts and filmmakers to educate audiences, and directly advise them on action-steps. These events will also provide us a larger engagement platform through press coverage, blogs, and social media participation. 

OUR TEAM 

PERKS 

Although the heart of our campaign is our global #SaveMesAynak Day VHX stream, we have many other fantastic perks, including a "Stand in Mes Aynak" map -- a powerful visual metaphor where everyone who donates will 'stand' in Mes Aynak in solidarity to protest it's demolition. You will be able to order DVDs, Blu Rays, posters, t-shirts, and limited edition gallery-quality photographic prints from Brent's time at Mes Aynak, signed by the director himself. You will also be able to receive a "Thank You" in the credits crawl of the home release, along with having your name listed on a special page of our website. We invite you to view our perk graphics below, which outline each level and the perks you will receive for your support. Each level is named after the beautiful artifact or location in the photo! 

Because our production company Kartemquin Films is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, your donation is considered tax-free to the extent of the law (as your accountant will determine on your personal tax return).

Regardless of whether you are able to contribute to our Indiegogo campaign, we implore you to please sign the Change.org petition. Your voice matters, and with your help, soon the cries of protest will be too loud to ignore. 

Thank you, and let's save Mes Aynak together. 

SIGN THE CHANGE.ORG PETITION