The Slovenian filmmaker Mr. Erik Valencic tells about the finished project of the documentary titled “The Guardians of Civilization”, which will be released soon. With funds from Assyrian Diaspora, especially Assyrian Universal Alliance Foundation (AUAF) in the U.S and Stiftung Mor Afrem in Germany, the project could finally be finished. It is the story of two Assyrian artists/sculptors from Bagdede, Nenos Thabet Pataq and his father Thabet, whom are defying the destruction of Assyrian heritage in Nineveh by creating new Lamassus and other ancient Assyrian artefacts. As a symbolic gesture of defiance 17-years old Nenos at the end of the documentary is escorted to the destroyed remnants of Nimrud where he puts a small Lamassu he create on the ground upon the original one, blown into pieces by ISIS in 2014.
Mr. Valencic has been a war correspondent in Slovenia since 2003, but after the huge cultural destruction he has seen in Nineveh and other parts of Assyria, he wants to dedicate his upcoming efforts as a filmmaker to shed light on and preserve this world heritage, which he calls the heritage of humanity.