The Rare Earth: Director's Cut

In 1968 and 1974 two skeletons were found in Australia at Lake Mungo by Professor James Bowler: Mungo Lady & Mungo Man. Both are around 40,000 years old, had been covered in ochre' and cremated in a ritualistic manner - the first evidence of ceremony, religion, society, and human civilization. The bones were painstakingly reassembled and reconstructed over many years by Alan Thorne, who later determined that they predated Australia's indigenous population. A theory that, despite advances in carbon and luminescence dating, was contentious and controversial. In 2039 three new skeletons are found at Mungo. One has a small chromium metallic hinge in its right knee. Professor Fergus Calder, who has spent much of his post academic life in isolation at Lake Mungo, makes the discovery. He then attempts to journey this newfound evidence, which supports a pre-indigenous civilization, back to whatever is left of this one. A unique fusion of science fiction, mysticism, and post-apocalyptic fantasy, The Rare Earth is a compelling drama beautifully shot in the wilds of Australia.