CBC and a&e have signed on for Emmy Award-winning director Simcha Jacobovici’s latest documentary, Quest for the Lost Tribes, a $1.3-million film expected to air late this fall or early next year.

The two-hour Associated Producers film takes audiences on a real-life Indiana Jones action-adventure in search of the fate of the Lost Tribes of Israel.

Using biblical scripture, archeology, geography and anthropology as his treasure map, Jacobovici retraces the steps of the 10 Israelite tribes who were deported from the Northern Kingdom of Israel and disappeared into history.

Trekking across foreign and often dangerous lands, he is putting together the pieces of the 2,700-year-old mystery and gathering evidence showing that the tribes do exist today.

Furthermore, in keeping with biblical prophecy, he suggests that the tribes are slowly returning to their native home of Israel. According to scripture, the returning of the lost tribes to Israel signals the approach of the apocalyptic times.

Pitching the film as a modern-day Indiana Jones adventure tale, and with the upcoming millennium as a timely hook, Jacobovici convinced cbc and a&e to come on board.

‘In this film, science, history, faith, travel and adventure intersect,’ says Jacobovici. Take all those elements and you hit a lot of people.

‘During this time of millennium angst, there are all sorts of speculation about the lost tribes circulating,’ he continues. ‘It strikes people’s most fundamental beliefs. For some, it’s religion; for others it’s history or politics or intellectual interest. On the Internet, lost tribes sites are some of the most active and have become a subculture. I am amazed how hot this 2,700 year-old topic is.’

And ultimately, a&e wanted to cover the millennium, but through an original treatment.

‘Quest for the Lost Tribes represents quintessentially what we want to do,’ says Amy Briamonte, supervising producer, documentary specials, a&e networks. ‘It deals with millennial themes of the apocalypse without being a compendium of the last 2,000 years.

‘We’re looking for strong stories which illuminate popular themes, and then we like to go in deeper and fill in the details, and expose audiences to a whole new layer of interest and drama,’ says Briamonte. ‘We look for dramatic stories which tap into things that are on people’s minds or close to their hearts.’

The Sunday primetime slot runs two-hour one-offs, as well as the occasional four-hour doc, with the second segment airing Monday night (the regular program pre-empted).

The strand is almost all commissions. Coproductions are infrequent, and acquisitions are basically extinct. ‘I can recall one since I’ve been here,’ says Briamonte, who has been with the department since 1995, and at a&e since ’94 (and in docs since ’90). ‘We really want to custom program,’ she explains.

Jacobovici sees the strand as redefining ‘special’ beyond its broadcast denotation. ‘They are making their specials more special all the time,’ he says, citing a&e’s quality doc programming.

A chance meeting

Production was stalled because the two broadcast licences were not enough to put together the budget. A chance encounter on a return flight from mipcom greenlit the project. Associated Producers’ Elliott Halpern was seated beside Alliance president Robert Lantos. Lantos asked about Associated Producers’ upcoming slate and became immediately captivated by the lost tribes project. When he found out some of the financing was missing, Lantos decided that although the company rarely distributes docs, this was to be the exception to the rule and offered up an advance. A limited theatrical release is being explored, says Jacobovici.

Over the past year and a half, two full-time researchers have worked with Jacobovici, reading ancient scriptures and sorting through old documents and reference books in libraries.

Two separate six-week shoots took place last year in Israel, Iran, Afghanistan Pakistan, India Tunisia and China, among other places.

Production recently wrapped with Jacobovici giving a three-hour lecture at the University of Toronto on the two years of exploration that led to his findings. Taped before a live audience, Jacobovici is experimenting with the idea of using his lecture as a thread to weave together the documentary.

Quest for the Lost Tribes is sure to stir up some controversy. Beyond the claim to have found the lost tribes, Jacobovici suggests how historical writings of the 19th and 20th century are colored by racism and anti-semitism. He also turns over many scholarly theories and applies investigative tools of science to the realm of prophecy and religion.

Jacobovici has signed a publishing deal with Key Porter to write a book as a companion to the film.

Associated Producers, whose Hollywoodism also aired as a special on a&e, won the ’98 Emmy for investigative journalism with The Selling of Innocents, and the ’97 Emmy for The Plague Monkeys, which aired on Bill Kurtis’ Investigative Reports.

Up next for Associated Producers is an a&e special following a forensic scientist unraveling a murder mystery and a six-part series titled Scandals Then and Now for History Television. Negotiations are underway with broadcasters for a three-part series on the roots of magic.