A documentary film producer, director, and writer, Robert Gardner believes the study of one's past civilizations is key to mapping today's human condition. He has extensive experience filming in Iraq and the Middle East. He received a Prime Time Emmy® for producing and directing two episodes of "Lost Civilizations", Time Life Television's NBC series. Those episodes were "Mesopotamia: Return to Eden," which included location shooting in the Iraq Museum and at archaeological sites throughout Iraq, and "Egypt: Quest for Immortality". His National Geographic special, "Search for the Lost Ark", was shot in Egypt, Israel and Ethiopia. Throughout his career, Rob has explored the shared humanity of all cultures of the Middle East. He received an Academy Award nomination in 1986 for his searing documentary, THE COURAGE TO CARE, narrated by Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel. His PBS special, "Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land", based on the Pulitzer-Prize winning book by David K. Shipler, earned him the duPont Columbia Award for Journalism. Recently he created the definitive film biography of Elie Wiesel for the PBS series, "First Person Singular". And as producer-director of another prime time PBS series, "Islam: Empire of Faith", he was the first American filmmaker allowed to work in Iran since the Islamic revolution of 1979. Rob is now completing the series, "The Life of Jesus Christ", and regularly produces for PBS, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. He collaborated on the screenplay of Idrissa Ouedraogo's French-Burkina Faso feature film, LE CRI DU CŒUR / THE HEART'S CRY (1994).  Nominated for Documentary (Short Subjects) 1985: THE COURAGE TO CARE - Producer 1 nomination