Local films: Afghan Mission Impossible

Down from 20 a year, Afghan films produced today are screened in wedding tents as the cinemas have been destroyed.

There was a flicker of hope for Afghan film-making with an Academy Award nomination for Buzkashi Boys last year, even though it wasn’t an entirely indigenous work. But today the reality is that Pakistani, Indian, English and Iranian movies are more successful in Afghan cinemas than work produced at home.

“I am a cinema-lover but the curse of war took away everything from us; now with a broken heart I don’t want to work in the theatre anymore,” says Afghan film director Mamnoon Maqsoodi, who spends his time teaching at the university in Kabul or on the radio. This is a far cry from the work he did after shooting to fame 19 years ago for acting in the film Da Kondi Zoi (Son of a Widow).

“It was during the time of the Mujahideen that the film industry started moving towards crisis and the Taliban proved to be the last nail in the coffin,” says Maqsoodi, who spent a decade in Pakistan’s Peshawar in self-exile. “Not only were the cinemas destroyed, but the artists were either killed, or fled the country or became old like me.”

When the Taliban took power, reels of film were burnt on the streets and actors and singers were murdered. According to Dr Atef Samer, a pop and classical musician, women singers were the prime target. Many of the popular voices such as Farzana Naz, Aryana Sayeed and Naghma continue to live abroad due to security threats, only to return to their country to perform at concerts.



Although Maqsoodi returned to Kabul from Peshawar, many others remained behind. They were not persuaded by the possibilities for growth offered by the government and rightfully so, as it failed to provide financial or technical support to the film industry as earlier promised. With the bulk of inspiring seasoned filmmakers absent from the scene, the next generation of young entertainers found themselves alone.



“As young artists in Afghanistan, we don’t have the opportunities and resources, that are available to artists in other parts of the world,” explains filmmaker, Alka Sadat. Despite the threat to women in the industry she has worked on 16 documentaries. Half Value Life, 1,2,3?, After 35 years and Kabul Sea have even earned her best director and best film awards at several international festivals.



Sadat sums up the urgency of having indigenous film-makers: they are able to accurately portray a people who are too often viewed through coloured lenses. “We Afghan artists focus on both sides of the personality,” she says, adding that she is critical of the way foreigners tend to offer impoverished depictions of Afghan women in particular. In her work she tries to counter this. Take Half Value Life, for example, which captures the life of Mrya Basher, the first woman in Afghanistan to have become a senior provincial investigative officer.

And then, Sadat argues that Afghan film-makers are needed simply to provide entertainment. “Most of our films deal with issues of security and war that may be of interest to foreigners but Afghans now want to watch fun movies,” she says. They are fed up of war.



But while the government has tried to help when it comes to shooting films, it needs to loosen the purse strings. “Even if funds do come in from abroad or from donor agencies, they are reserved for artists in Kabul,” retorts Jalalabad-based film director Amir Talash, who has starred in Be Imaan (Faithless) and Te Zema Ye  (You are Mine). According to him, Jalalabad produced the greatest number of Pashto films, 20 to 25 films annually before the Taliban destroyed the only two cinemas in the city. The number has now come down to only two to three films a year. “When we produce a new film, there is no proper cinema to screen it. We screen films either at wedding halls or in tents and that is the reason why people aren’t interested in watching films anymore,” he maintains, holding the government responsible for never rebuilding the two cinemas.



For whatever it is worth though, the government argues that its main priority is security — and not necessarily supporting the arts at this moment in time. Nonetheless, the director for the state-backed company overseeing the national film industry, the Afghan Film organisation, Muhammad Ibrahim Arify, was optimistic that two cinemas would be built in Kabul within a year. Out of the 18 cinemas in Kabul, only four have been reopened to the public.

Additionally, while only one film was made last year, the government has tasked Arify’s department with making at least 12 films by the end of 2013. He feels six is a more realistic goal given the funding. To help pay, Pakistani and Iranian cinemas have come forward to collaborate and Turkish, French and German cinemas are expected to follow suit.

But if the government is paying for the films it also means it is dictating their focus. This is why the theme is supposed to be peace and national harmony. These limitations might not appeal to independent film-makers.



The government is also keen to see film-makers return. Arify is heartened that Maqsoodi is already back in Kabul as is director Sadiq Barmak who had also left for Pakistan. Now all they need to do is find a way to get back to work.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, June 16^th, 2013.

Like Express Tribune Magazine on Facebook, follow @ETribuneMag on Twitter to stay informed and join the conversation.