In the land of the black Pharaohs

Charles Bonnet, 71 years old, is one of Europe’s leading archaeologists. Geneva-born Bonnet, originally a wine grower, has been combing through the sands of northern Sudan for 4o years. His work has exposed the importance of the Nubian civilisation, the famous “black Paraohs”, and of Kerma, the first capital of the great Nubian empire. The major findings made by him and his team have enabled the Sudanese population, which has been torn apart by decades of civil war, to rediscover some of its national identity.
The film follows Charles Bonnet and his archaeological dig. His team consists of ten or so researchers including Mathieu Honnegger, a young prehistorian who has just discovered the oldest necropolis in the Nile valley at Kerma, and Louis Chaix, a former Benedictine monk and retired archaeozoologist. Year after year they return to Sudan hoping to make more exciting discoveries.