CuriosityStream will televise the first large-scale excavation of Pompeii – once known as the crown jewel of the Roman Empire – in Pompeii: Disaster Street, premiering on March 19. Viewers follow archaeologists over 10 months as they uncover layer after layer of stone and ash, revealing evidence of daily life, works of art, mythical figures, and human remains buried for 2,000 years. With exclusive access granted to film the first excavations in Pompeii in 70 years, Pompeii: Disaster Street reveals the unexplored parts of the city and captures the major findings that emerged in front of CuriosityStream’s cameras.

After decades of neglect, Italy and the EU funded the rescue archaeology operation in this new area of Pompeii, the famous historical site visited by 3 million tourists a year. With five generations worth of scientific advancement at their disposal, the archaeologists highlighted in the film are not simply attempting to restore mosaics and the city’s architecture, they are uncovering details about the people that inhabited the area at the time Vesuvius erupted.

To portray an accurate picture of what happened in Pompeii on that fateful day in 79 AD, CuriosityStream filmmakers took painstaking steps to recreate the society’s environment through a production that spanned two years. As a result, the findings contribute to a new understanding of this infamous day in human history.

Executive Producer Steve Burns is a two-time Emmy Award-winner (5 Years on Mars; Spirit of the Rainforest) whose career in documentary filmmaking spans more than 25 years.