The work in Afghanistan has begun. On Wednesday I arrived in Kabul at sunrise with 6 suitcases containing five video production kits and everything else necessary for a five week training course in documentary camerawork and five weeks of production work on Brewing Tea in a Kettle of War. Flying in over Afghanistan from Dubai to Kabul the morning skies were hazy – an indication that the cooler temperatures of fall are arriving. Temperatures in this arid environment, at 6000 feet, fluctuate dramatically. By midday it will be in the upper 80s to low 90s and then drop to the 40s at night. Soon the temperatures will plummet all together as winter sets in.
But before then we will carry out our five week intensive documentary videography training with 10 Afghans. After the training, four trainees will be selected to work on the production work for Brewing Tea in a Kettle of War. During the next month, I will be finalizing the selection of stories to be told from the perspective of Afghan families and villages. The trained camera people working with me and other Afghan filmmakers will follow their stories for one year. The film’s premise is that economic development can contribute to peacemaking. We will investigate whether this is true or not and what approaches to economic development work best. We will begin this production work in November and work until the snow limits our access to the provinces. It is remarkable – and indicative of the isolation that permeates much of the country – that many communities throughout the mountains of Afghanistan become inaccessible for four or five months of winter. Many families spend much of their winter ‘hibernating’ under blankets that cover whole rooms.
We have received over 50 training applicants, male and female, from across the country. Twenty four will be interviewed starting tomorrow. I feel extremely lucky to be assisted by a dedicated and talented Afghan crew of trainers, translators, editors and assistants, in addition to the amazing organizational support of the staff at the Killid Group – our Afghan co-producer. It never ceases to amaze and shock to learn of the challenged histories that each of these Afghans – often in there 20s or 30s – have already gone through. Decades of war and displacement and survival as refugees in the not too welcoming towns and cities of Pakistan, Iran and beyond is only a part of their stories. Their bios will be added to the crew section of the website over the next days. But for a compelling start please read Mehdi’s story .
Mehdi is an experienced Afghan documentary filmmaker and educator with an inspiring dedication to both. Within minutes of first meeting him last June, I knew that I would be lucky to have him bring his knowledge for the art and craft of documentary filmmaking and his dedication to sharing it and expanding the capacity of other Afghans in filmmaking and video-journalism. Mehdi has taken primary responsibility – with the assistance and experience of the Killid staff – to prepare the logistics for the training and the outreach for training candidates. The location has been rented at the foundation of Culture and Civil Society in Kabul. Like many organizations in Afghanistan their buildings are in a poor state after years of war and Taliban era neglect.
Our first task was to do some cleaning, setup and repairs. I will keep the website updated about our work and news of economic development and stability issues in Afghanistan and beyond. If you’d like to receive a weekly notification about new postings via email please sign up by adding your email to the subscribe option in the right column.
Thank you for your wonderful support. We have a long way to go to raise the necessary funds but we remain cautiously optimistic about reaching our goal.
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