The Destruction of Memory

The School of Information at Pratt Institute is pleased to host a screening of The Destruction of Memory, a film by Tim Slade.

The screening will be followed with Q+A with the filmmaker Tim Slade.

About the film:

THE WAR AGAINST CULTURE, AND THE BATTLE TO SAVE IT.
Over the past century, cultural destruction has wrought catastrophic results across the globe. This war against culture is not over—it’s been steadily increasing.

In Syria and Iraq, the “cradle of civilization,” millennia of culture are being destroyed. The push to protect, salvage and rebuild has moved in step with the destruction.

Legislation and policy have played a role, but heroic individuals have fought back, risking and losing their lives to protect not just other human beings, but our cultural identity—to save the record of who we are.

Based on the book of the same name by Robert Bevan, The Destruction of Memory tells the whole story—looking not just at the ongoing actions of Daesh (ISIS) and at other contemporary situations, but revealing the decisions of the past that allowed the issue to remain hidden in the shadows for so many years.

Interviewees in the film include the Director-General of UNESCO, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as diverse and distinguished international experts, whose voices combine to address this urgent issue.

The film, the recipient to date of four film festival awards, continues its journey across the globe.

Trailer