Afghan Filmmakers Fear for Cinematic History

Afghan filmmakers warn that efforts to save Afghanistan's film history are being undermined by government inaction and concerns about security ahead of a planned 2014 withdrawal of US-led forces.

Published

7 months ago

Categories

Arts & Society

Topics

Middle East & North Africa, Terrorism

Places

United States of America, South Korea, Afghanistan

Transcript

SCRIPT: On the silver screen at last… Six Afghan films which were saved from destruction during the Taliban regime are being shown at Asia’s biggest cinema event. This year's Busan International Film Festival in South Korea is running a special programme along with the Afghan National Film Archive promoting the country’s film industry. Three filmmakers are calling for assistance from the outside world to save their country’s cinematic heritage. SOUNDBITE 1 Latif Ahmadi (man), Afghan director (English, 23 sec): "We have a very very valuable material in this archive but unfortunately in this moment, in this situation, all the international society helped Afghanistan but nobody looking very deeply in Afghan film, especially in this archive." The Archive, founded in 1968, helps to produce and store films. But it lost more than 5,000 hours of film after the Taliban burned reels in the streets of Kabul, and years of neglect have had their toll on what the staff managed to save. The institution does receive financial support from France, but filmmakers say much more help is needed to sustain their nation’s celluloid history. SOUNDBITE 2 Ibrahim Apify (man), Director of Afghan Film (Dari, 9 sec): "I can't sleep well knowing that our archive is in a bad condition." Afghan film experienced a golden era in the 1980s and early 90s until the Taliban came to power and imposed harsh laws banning most popular culture. SOUNDBITE 3 Latif Ahmadi (man), Afghan director (English, 12 sec): "Nobody can touch on radio, television and cinema especially. It was the dark time for culture and people of Afghanistan." Ahmadi and many other filmmakers fled to nearby countries and North of Afghanistan to escape the Taliban’s religious police. He managed to produce two films during that time. Though the Taliban was ousted in 2003, their influence is still felt. Directors complain the Afghan government is not supporting film making and that many people still think it's forbidden. They also worry about the increasingly unstable situation in their country, and fear the Taliban could soon be playing a role in government again. SOUNDBITE 4 Siddiq Barmak (man), Afghan director (English, 11 sec): "If they (the Taliban) can get back to power, it could be a very bad, huge, endless war in again in Afghanistan, and of course it has a side effect on cinema." Although it's uncertain who will be in charge after NATO troops withdraw in 2014, filmmakers say they’ll continue battling to save their countries' cinematic culture. SHOTLIST: BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA, OCT 6-8, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV - VAR of audience watching Afghan director Siddiq Barmak's film "The Stranger" in cinema - VAR of Afghan filmmakers at a special talk on Afghan National Film Archive at the Busan International Film Festival SOUNDBITE 1 - VAR of Afghan filmmakers at the special talk UNKNOWN DATE AND LOCATION, SOURCE: Afghan Films - NO RESALE FOR NON-EDITORIAL PURPOSES - Excerpt of Siddiq Barmak's film "The Stranger" BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA, OCT 6-8, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV SOUNDBITE 2 KABUL, MAY 2011, SOURCE: AFPTV - VAR of Kabul street scene BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA, OCT 6-8, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV SOUNDBITE 3 UNKNOWN DATE AND LOCATION, SOURCE: Afghan Films - NO RESALE FOR NON-EDITORIAL PURPOSES - Excerpt of Latif Ahmadi's film "Love Epic" KABUL, SEPT 17, 2012, SOURCE: AFP - VAR of the aftermath of a violent protest in Kabul against an American film mocking the Prophet Mohammed BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA, OCT 6-8, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV SOUNDBITE 4 FORWARD OPERATING BASE MARJAH, HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN, MAY 2011, SOURCE: AFPTV - Afghan police receiving training at US Marines base BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA, OCT 8, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV - Director of Afghan Film Ibrahim Apify chatting with Afghan director Siddiq Barmak /// ------------------------------------------------------- AFP TEXT STORY: Entertainment-SKorea-Afghanistan-film-festival Afghan filmmakers fear for cinematic history by Mathew Scott BUSAN, South Korea, Oct 11, 2012 (AFP) - Afghan director Siddiq Barmak remembers watching helplessly as reel upon reel of film footage was taken outside and burned in the street after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. He also remembers the effort it took to save other films from destruction after the extremist forces marched into Kabul in 1996. Barmak and other Afghan filmmakers this week warned that efforts to save Afghanistan's film history were being undermined by government inaction and concerns about security ahead of a planned 2014 withdrawal of US-led forces. "What is worrying all of us now is that the Taliban, the people who tried to destroy our cinema, are being talked about again as becoming part of the government," said Barmak. "We have seen what they can do and cannot forget this," he said. Barmak was joined by director Latif Ahmadi and producer Ibrahim Arify, who heads the government-backed Afghan Film organisation. The filmmakers attended the Busan Film Festival this week for a screening of an Afghanistan National Film Archive programme. The six films that comprise "The Rise from the Ashes" include examples of Barmak and Ahmadi's work, all of which were saved from the wrath of the Taliban. But many more reels remain in need of urgent repair, they say, with time taking its toll on old film stock. "The situation is critical," said Barmak, winner of a Golden Globe award in 2004 for "Osama". "We need help or our country's film history, which is also the history of the country and its people, will be lost". Barmak was working at Afghan Film, the state-backed company overseeing the national film industry and archive, when the Taliban began to implement its strict rule and attempted to destroy old film footage. Cinemas across the country were closed and the screening of films banned under the Taliban's enforcement of Sharia law. Were it not for the quick intervention of archive staff, the building's entire contents of feature films and more than 8,000 hours of newsreel footage dating back to before the Second World War would have been lost. -- Saved by the dark -- ----------------------- Usually light is needed to bring cinema to life, but in this case it was darkness that came to the rescue, said Barmak. "After the Taliban came, Kabul was hit by power cuts. So staff told (the Taliban) that the floor where the archives were kept was being kept dark to save power," he explained. "Then they boarded up the doors and sealed off the area. That saved everything we have left today but we still lost more than 5,000 hours of film." Afghan Film began the labourious process of sorting through its archives and assessing the damage in 2003, after the Taliban were ousted by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. But a lack of support from the new government complicated efforts, the directors said. While international aid has streamed into Afghanistan over the past decade, they claim little of it was channeled into the art, culture and film industries that would help reflect and curate the nation's history. "Luckily some of the film was moved overseas and we have a restoration programme ongoing with France's INA [the French national audiovisual institute]," said Arify. "But we are facing a serious crisis as we have nowhere near enough money to restore and save all of what we have. That's why we are here in Busan asking for help, from anyone who will listen to us." -- "It soon might all be lost" -- --------------------------------- Afghan cinema has a rich history dating back to the early 1900s when the country's then-royal family first brought projectors and newsreels back from their international travels. The country's first feature film "Love and Friendship" was produced in 1946 and by the early 1960s, Afghan Film had begun to educate film students and support local productions. Many young Afghan filmmakers of the time took up cinema studies in Russia, Iran and Pakistan, due to the lack of formal film education opportunities in their homeland. Barmak was one, heading to Moscow where he studied cinema at the Moscow Film Institute. He was in Moscow when Russian forces invaded Afghanistan in 1979 but had returned to Kabul by the time the Taliban took power after the Soviet withdrawal. He fled into Pakistan before returning to make the country's first post-Taliban film "Osama" -- about a girl who disguises herself as a boy -- in 2003. Arify said there were many feature films in urgent need of repair, and that the nation risked losing crucial documentation of its history if newsreels belonging to Afghan Film were left to deteriorate. "Everyone grew up watching these newsreels, they told the people's stories and the country's stories and they kept people informed about what had happened in the country." Barmak said the Busan festival had given the group a chance to plead their case to the world ahead of the planned 2014 withdrawal of troops from the war against Taliban insurgents. The United States has said it does not seek permanent bases in Afghanistan, but is expected to keep a small force in the country after 2014 for counter terrorism operations. Details have not yet been agreed. "We know that when the people of the world think of Afghan people they think of warriors but we want the world to know about our culture and about our film culture," said Barmak. "We want the world to know that it soon might all be lost." The Busan festival closes on Saturday. END