A film on bullets, bombs and everyday Afghan life
Cellphones transform storytelling
ACOUPLE of years ago I saw a film from Afghanistan about Wester n-style hair salons opening up in one of the big cities.
If the war isn’t viewed from the perspective of Wester n troops, which is mostly the case, we are presented with feel-good stories from the cities – like the one I saw.
When a story contains material describing the conditions in rural areas where most of the Afghan population live and where the war is being fought, it’s typically by way of statistics or the occasional image of civilians who have been wounded or killed.
I got the idea for my film after working for years as a journalist in Afghanistan without being “embedded” – that is, I wasn’t under military protection or subject to their rules and restrictions. As a result, I came into direct contact with the people, whose stories I have tried to tell. My film, which is airing today on BBC World News, provides a rare glimpse into the lives of regular Afghans.
WE TEND TO FORGET
It frustrated me that I didn’t see my experiences reflected in media coverage. All I saw was an oversimplified representation of the war: a conflict between the good Western military and their Afghan allies, and the supremely evil rebels.
In reality, it is a complex conflict with lots of areas and, as in any other war, the biggest victims are the civilian population.
It may sound like a cliché, but I wanted to make a film that portrayed Afghans as human beings, for good or ill. Many of the images we are presented with, for instance from Helmand, where my film was shot, are of deserted wastelands where two warring parties shoot and bomb away without much consequence.
That’s exactly why the film’s premise, cliché or not, is so important to establish, because far too often we forget that there are people living in the middle of the war. Flesh-and-blood people caught in the middle and, in spite of it all, trying to have a normal life.
CELLPHONES WERE THE SOLUTION
Trying to depict the war in Afghanistan at close range is fraught with peril. Spending time in the villages is a big risk for journalists, because the rural population in Afghanistan, unlike so many other places in the world, does not view journalists as objective parties, but as an extension of the hated Afghan government or as being in cahoots with the foreign forces they regard as an evil.
I personally experienced the results of that risk when I was kidnapped by the Taliban in 2008, while attempting to depict Afghans in their own surroundings over an extended period. Being considered a government or foreign-force collaborator could ultimately have put my life and those of others in danger.
To protect the civilians and yet be able to report on their lives, I came up with the idea of giving them cellphones so they could film themselves. Cellphones are ubiquitous in Afghanistan, while camcorders are a rarity, especially in the rural areas. This was a way of “staying with them”, without endangering their lives or mine.
GREATER RISK FOR WOMEN
In 2009, I travelled to Helmand and handed out cellphones to a group of Afghans that I wanted to be in the film. We had done a lot of research and familiarised ourselves with the potential consequences.
My biggest challenge, however, was to find women to work with – and keep them on the project. It would not have been much of a problem to find a woman in a big city like Kabul, but I wanted to show real life in the villages, where people traditionally are much more conservative than in urban areas.
The women would be taking a far greater risk than the men because of how rumours spread in villagebased societies, where concepts of honour are a big deal. An Afghan woman is not expected to leave the home, unless it is absolutely necessary. Contact with strange men could ultimately cost her her life.
But I had to try. A film without women would not have painted an accurate picture of village life.
The consequences of war are always worse for the civilians, who are generally unable to influence decisions and are left as the biggest losers. Still, it is not my ambition to portray Afghans as powerless victims for us to pity. Through their own eyes, we see how they lead their lives despite difficult and uncertain conditions, with joys, sorrows, dreams and needs that are not all that different from our own.
My Afghanistan – Everyday Stories of Bombs and Bullets by Nagieb Khaja, part of the Storyville Global series, airs today at 5.10pm and tomorrow at 11.10am and 10.10pm on BBC World News.