The United States Institute of Peace's PeaceMedia initiative has highlighted Majid's short Water Ways. You can see it and learn more about USIP and...
Water Ways film highlighted
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Updates
First screenings and discussions in the States
To my surprise, a few of the art students in the evening didn’t believe the authenticity of the work – primarily because from their point of view the war is not mentioned or shown at all. When I tried to explain that the film’s intention is to present outsiders a view of Afghanistan beyond the battlefront it became clear that the western media has created such a strong impression of Afghanistan being only about war, terror and extremism, that viewers can not trust a representation that does not include these things.
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Next steps and Expanding Goals
The completion of our October/November 2010 production training is only the beginning of our work. With your support we plan to extend our work to focus on guiding and supporting our trainees and other afghan filmmakers as they seek to submit production proposals and earn work on commissioned films.
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Training Concludes with Kabul Screening
Mehdi and Jamal were talking and one said to the other, “I can’t believe it, it’s magic – 10 films in 5 weeks – magic.” The magic has been the great energy, smarts, high spirits and unwavering determination that everyone brought to the work. Please make it all worthwhile and watch the films!
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‘Fruits of our Labor’ film screening Nov 10th at FCCS, Kabul
We hope you can join us for the screening of films made by the students of the Community Supported Film documentary filmmaking training. The...
Editing Final Projects: The final week of the training
Students are facing their successes and ‘challenges.’ We have helped one another by reviewing each other’s footage and providing fresh perspective. As is often the case, we come back from our shoots exhausted and quite sure that we have nothing with which to construct our intended story. An independent eye and ear can usually see beyond our foggy view.
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Press Conference
[Ed. 7/21: The last names of Afghan filmmakers and images of those still in the country have been removed due to the increasing insecurity in...
Training Week 3, Final project research and pitch reel production
The trainees are in the throws of final project pre-production, research, planning and aesthetic decision making. And, depending on how things are going, they are realizing the strengths and weaknesses of their story intentions. Their final project is a story determined by them but we have established economic development as the theme. A few have had to have the perseverance required by documentary filmmaking to start over with their research and character search as story ideas failed to materialize as hoped.
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Training finishes 2nd week
The training has successfully finished its second week - with students editing their first interviews and group conversations. This second week has...
Interviewing candidates for the training
Four days and 37 interviews later and I have a fresh understanding of the Afghan experience. These candidates were selected from over 60 applicants from throughout the country. We are looking for people with a passion for storytelling, sensitivity to village life and a demonstrated interest in social and economic development. The candidates do not have to have experience with filmmaking. They can be working for example, as print or radio journalists, novelists, poets, photographers or in the theater.
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The Work Begins
The work in Afghanistan has begun. On Wednesday I arrived in Kabul at sunrise with 6 suitcases containing five video production kits and everything...
It’s all coming together! Applications for documentary training are piling up!
In less than one month our five-week intensive training in documentary filmmaking begins in Afghanistan. Production equipment, donated and...