Our Oldest Ancestor: the Toumaï Mystery

Before Lucy, there was Toumaï. In the heart of Chad's Djurab Desert, paleoanthropologist Michel Brunet made a discovery that shattered our understanding of human evolution: a seven-million-year-old fossil skull known as Sahelanthropus tchadensis. This documentary explores the grueling Franco-Chadian expedition that unearthed our most distant ancestor to date. We dive into the high-tech reconstruction of Toumaï’s face and investigate the prehistoric environment where he lived millions of years before the famous "Lucy." New York Film Festival 2007 • Silver World Medal (education, information and entertainment category) Scientific Film Festival 2006 (China) • First Prize (discovery category) HD Film Festival 2006 (Paris) • Special Image Award Director : Pierre Stine Writers : Pierre Stine, Alain Zenou, Michel Brunet