BAM: Builders of the Ancient Mysteries

The film opens with a single question. Are we really the first advanced civilisation on Earth? The camera goes to the pyramids in Egypt. It goes to ancient sites on other continents too. The cut of the stones and their measurements are shown at length. The narration sets itself against the accepted account of what those civilisations were able to build. From there it moves to the idea of a much older lost civilisation. This is where it needs saying plainly. Archaeology does not accept these claims. The director’s earlier film about the pyramids was rejected by specialists in the same way. The film gives the other side no chance to answer. It runs more like a case for the defence than a documentary. The images are striking and the ground under them is disputed. That distinction is worth keeping in mind while watching. The hundred and thirty eight minute documentary is a French production finished in 2018.