No storytelling medium is more powerful than the modern movie—but the ability to inspire and entertain by combining words and pictures is hardly a recent phenomenon. This program reveals the age-old roots of the cinematic narrative form and their evolution over the centuries. Beginning in the ancient Mesopotamian city of Nineveh, the film points to the Epic of Gilgamesh as one of the earliest hero stories—one so potent that it prompted the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal to commission illustrative stone friezes. Further examples include Greco-Roman sculptures depicting the tale of Odysseus, the military victories recounted on Trajan’s Column, and Australian Aboriginal paintings with the most cinematic feature of all—a soundtrack. A BBC/KCET Co-production. A part of the series How Art Made the World. (49 minutes)