Visning

What we left unfinished + directors talk

Dette tilbakeblikket på afghansk film omtaler perioden mellom 1979 og 1991 som en gullalder, men også som en tid preget av sensur og propaganda. De restaurerte filmklippene fra fem uferdige spillefilmer og nylige intervjuer med skaperne viser at det finnes en sannhet i begge utsagn.

Gjennom det ene statskuppet etter det andre trosset filmskaperne trusler fra både folket og staten, og fortsatte å gjøre det de brant for. Deler av filmene de skapte blir nå endelig tilgjengelig for et publikum, om enn ikke som opprinnelig planlagt.

De sier mye om den turbulente tiden de ble skapt i, selv om manusene gjerne var fiktive, sensurerte eller til og med bestillingsverk fra det kommunistiske regimet. Denne dokumentaren viser hvordan filmen, med sitt sterke politiske potensial, kan være et våpen kraftigere enn de fleste.

English:

Artist Talk with Mariam Ghani

WHAT WE LEFT UNFINISHED tells the incredible and mostly true story of five unfinished feature films from the Communist era in Afghanistan (1978-1991) – when films were weapons, filmmakers became targets, and the dreams of constantly shifting political regimes merged with the stories told onscreen. It is also a tribute to a tight-knit group of Afghan filmmakers who loved cinema enough to risk their lives for art. Despite government interference, censorship boards, scarce resources, armed opposition, and near-constant threats of arrest and even death, they made films that were subversive and, in the filmmakers’ opinions, always “true” to life. Mariam Ghani’s film brings together newly rediscovered and restored footage from these lost films with present-day interviews that reveal the behind-the-scenes stories of the filmmakers (including directors, actors, and crew members who often swapped roles), and new footage shot in the same locations by some of the same directors and cinematographers.

After the film: Filmmaker Mariam Ghani joins Professor Mike Sperlinger (KHiO) in a talk about her project, the troubled history of film in Afghanistan then and today, and the nature of unfinished art. Presented in collaboration with KHiO as part of a course for fine art students, ‘The piece need not be built’.

Foto credit: ‘Still from What We Left Unfinished (Indexical Films, 2019): a scene from Abdulkhalek Halil’s unfinished film The Black Diamond’

Professor Mike Sperlinger have recorded podcast interviews in relation to the same course, which the film is connected to (The Piece Need Not Be Built) on SoundCloud.

Visningen kan sees frem til 7. mars på humanfilm.no