In Erbil, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the Citadel, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2014, preserves beneath its surface the traces of a history spanning thousands of years. Since 2023, a French and international archaeological team, working in collaboration with Kurdish institutions, has been exploring the different layers of the city in order to better understand its development, from its earliest occupations to the contemporary period. Archaeological excavations, the study of burials, the analysis of remains and fortifications, as well as the use of digital technologies and 3D modelling, are gradually helping to reconstruct the history and everyday life of a city that has never ceased to be inhabited. From the top of the Citadel to the remains uncovered beneath the Lower Town, the film tells a scientific and human story built on collaboration, the sharing of expertise, and the training of a new generation of Kurdish archaeologists. It also shows how archaeological research can contribute to a broader heritage project: preserving, transmitting and sharing this collective memory, with the aim of making the Citadel an archaeological park and a living place, open to all.

Filmed in October 2025, this documentary was produced as part of the French Archaeological Mission in Erbil (MAFE), in collaboration with Archéorient (CNRS / Université Lumière Lyon 2), the High Commission for the Revitalization of Erbil Citadel, the General Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage of the Kurdistan Region, and the French Institute for the Near East (Ifpo).

> Article on the Archéorient blog
> French version of the film
> Kurdish version of the film
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