Educational resources

Discuss the film title. Who is the “we” and what did they leave unfinished? Does the title refer solely to the five unfinished films or are there other resonances? Why was the filmmaker interested in unfinished rather than finished films?

In Q&As, director Mariam Ghani has spoken about the difficulty of constructing a film from the partial and contradictory narratives left behind by civil wars, and her desire to structure the film around those omissions, gaps and contradictions. What formal strategies does the film use to point to the incompleteness of the stories told by the people interviewed?

In her earlier essay film, A Brief History of Collapses, Ghani described the Afghan approach to storytelling as exemplified in the traditional opening to Afghan folk tales, “afsaneh seesaneh” (“one story, thirty stories”), which she explains as meaning that the version of the tale you are about to hear is only one of many you could possibly hear, if you “wandered like a lost anthropologist about the countryside” in search of different storytellers. Or, interpreted differently, it might mean that every story contains many possible stories, “branching and twisting into infinity.” How might this idea relate to the structure of What We Left Unfinished?

Ghani has also written about the frequency with which document and fiction are intermingled in classic Afghan films. How does What We Left Unfinished both analyze and deploy this technique?

All of the archival “excerpts” in What We Left Unfinished were constructed by the filmmakers from raw footage (except the ones from Agent, which were re-cut from a rough cut). Agent was the only unfinished film that had recorded sound that survived, so they created the Foley sound effects and sound design for almost all of those scenes. They also restored the footage, which involved training technicians in Afghanistan, making new scans, and doing extensive color grading and noise removal. So in order to make this documentary, they essentially had to partially finish all five fiction films. Does knowing this change your perception of the film?

In many documentaries, archival footage is used primarily as B-roll, to illustrate interview audio. What We Left Unfinished takes a different approach to its archival footage. How is the archival material used in this documentary? How does it relate to the interview audio? (Bonus if you watch A Flickering Truth or The Forbidden Reels: How does the use of archival footage in this film differ from how it is used in those films?)

The score for What We Left Unfinished combines synthesizers, string instruments, and tabla, while the Foley sound effects are applied selectively and in a slightly exaggerated manner. These choices were inspired by the scores and sound design of Afghan, Indian and Pakistani films from the 1980s, but updated with the addition of present-day ambient sound (in the sound design of archival scenes) and a more abstract approach to composition (in the score). There are three scenes in WWLU where original scores from period Afghan films are used. Can you identify those scenes? Can you think of other examples of regional films with a similar approach to score and sound design?

The film uses matches between archival and present-day location shots to transition between sections. How does the sound design play into these transitions? What other structural purpose do these matching shots serve in the film?

The film switches between multiple aspect ratios – two different ratios for the archival footage, and another for the present-day footage. Did you notice this as you were watching? If so, what effect did it have?

The filmmakers only use onscreen identifiers for archival films and interviewees the first few times they appear. Why do you think they chose this strategy?

The Afghan filmmakers and actors interviewed in What We Left Unfinished worked under conditions of extreme censorship, and faced real danger while shooting in active war zones. How did they adapt to these conditions? What do you think of their choices? How would you work in similar circumstances?

The filmmakers interviewed argue that their films, while fictional, still function as records of the history of this period. Do you agree? Do you think the director of What We Left Unfinished agrees?

In general, what do you think is the perspective of the film on the history of this period? Does it take a “side”? Does it even present a linear, understandable history? What might the contradictions and fragmented narratives of What We Left Unfinished suggest about our ability to parse the history of Afghan Communism?

The filmmakers interviewed in What We Left Unfinished also believed (and still believe) that film can be a weapon. What did that mean to them then, and what does it mean now? What would it mean in your place and time?

Director Mariam Ghani has said in interviews that she thinks of archives primarily as communities of people, who act as the gatekeepers, custodians, and performers of the materials held. How do you think this approach informs What We Left Unfinished?

In many documentaries, archival footage is used primarily as B-roll, to illustrate interview audio. What We Left Unfinished takes a different approach to its archival footage. How is the archival material used in this documentary? How does it relate to the interview audio? (Bonus if you watch A Flickering Truth or The Forbidden Reel: How does the use of footage sourced from the same archive differ in this film from how it is used in those films?)

In the introductory text panels, the filmmaker describes the archival footage we are about to see as depicting “an ideal Afghan Communist Republic than only exists on film.” How would you describe the relationship between the archival footage seen in the film, and the history of the period in which it was made? How do the original filmmakers describe it?

How much of the historical context in which the archival films were produced (the founding of the PDPA in 1965, the 1973 Republican coup d’état, the 1978 “April Revolution,” the 1979 Soviet invasion, and the wars that followed) is communicated within the film itself? How much context is necessary for viewers to understand the films as films, versus understanding them as documents of a historical moment? How do you think What We Left Unfinished wants viewers to understand these archival remnants? To complicate this question further, director Mariam Ghani has written about the frequency with which document and fiction are intermingled in classic Afghan films. How does What We Left Unfinished both analyze and deploy this technique?

In Q&As, Ghani has spoken about the difficulty of constructing a film from the partial and contradictory narratives left behind by civil wars, and her desire to structure the film around those omissions, gaps and contradictions. What formal strategies does the film use to point to the incompleteness of the stories told by the people interviewed? How might this relate to the film’s position on the nature and uses of archives?

Ghani has also cited artist Walid Raad’s work as The Atlas Group, a fictional archive of the Lebanese civil war, as one of the inspirations for her work on What We Left Unfinished. In particular, she has spoken about the work titled “The Truth Will be Known When the Last Witness is Dead” and the idea cited by Raad that in the wake of war, the hysterical symptoms of trauma resurface symbolically in popular culture. Can you trace this influence in What We Left Unfinished?

What does What We Left Unfinished suggest about our ability to parse the recent history of Afghanistan through its structure of narrative fragments and material remnants, mismatches between present-day audio and past images, and storytellers who contradict each other and themselves?

All of the archival “excerpts” in What We Left Unfinished were constructed by the filmmakers from raw footage (except the ones from Agent, which were re-cut from a rough cut). Agent was the only unfinished film that had recorded sound that survived, so the filmmakers created the Foley sound effects and sound design for almost all of those scenes. They also restored the footage, which involved training technicians in Afghanistan, making new scans, and doing extensive color grading and noise removal. So in order to make this documentary, they essentially had to partially finish all five fiction films. Does knowing this change your perception of the film?

The film uses matches between archival and present-day location shots to transition between sections, and uses ambient sound from the present-day locations in the sound design of the archival footage from the same and similar locations. What other structural purpose do these present-day matching shots serve in the film?

How do the color, sound design, sound effects and score (the latter two inspired by regional films of the period) affect your perception of the archival footage? In general, does archival footage feel more immediate when it is in color versus black and white, when the color is restored versus faded, when it has sound rather than being silent? See commentary on recent archival film restoration projects like Apollo 11 and They Shall Not Grow Old.

Discuss the film title. Who is the “we” and what did they leave unfinished? Does the title refer solely to the five unfinished films or are there other resonances? Why was the filmmaker interested in unfinished rather than finished films?

Director Mariam Ghani has written about the “metaphorical dusty drawer” in every archive that contains its forgotten and deprecated materials, and how irresistible those materials are to an artist truffling around an archive. What do artists tend to seek out in national and institutional archives? What do documentary filmmakers and archival producers typically look for? How do archivists react to those requests?

Ghani has also written about the ethics of archival research, and how the process of working with an archive should be reciprocal: “Above all, you must try to understand what the archive desires of you. You cannot hope to extract anything from the archive without giving something back.” What can our archives gain from those who come to us for materials? How might we express our desires as archivists to researchers in our archives? What are your first principles for the ethics of archival research?

Discuss the historical context of the unfinished films presented in What We Left Unfinished – the founding of the PDPA in 1965, the 1973 Republican coup d’état, the 1978 “April Revolution,” the 1979 Soviet invasion, and the wars that followed. How much of that context is communicated within the film itself?

In the introductory text panels, the filmmaker describes the archival footage we are about to see as depicting “an ideal Afghan Communist Republic than only exists on film.” How would you describe the relationship between the archival footage seen in the film, and the history of the period in which it was made? How do the original filmmakers describe it? What does the film itself suggest about our ability to parse the recent history of Afghanistan through its structure of narrative fragments and material remnants, mismatches between present-day audio and past images, and storytellers who contradict each other and themselves?

How did the different Communist regimes relate to and deploy filmmakers? What does this reveal about each regime’s particular version of the Afghan national imaginary? How did filmmakers cope with the requirements of the Afghan Communist regimes, and also of their Soviet “advisers”? Do they think of the work they made during this time as propaganda, or as art, or both?

How did the mujahidin, the opponents of the Communist regimes, relate to state-supported filmmakers? Some of the people associated with Afghan Film later defected to join Masoud’s film unit in Panjsher, and made the film Ascension, the only Afghan feature completed in the 1990s (see link). Masoud’s film unit was responsible for filming each of their campaigns and releasing the footage to the Western media. Did they view their work as propaganda?

Later in the film, Latif Ahmadi talks about making films that broke with conventional standards of morality and reflected a different social reality – creating a place in film for “people who wanted a different kind of freedom.” What kind of freedom is he talking about? Who was able to make the choice to exercise this freedom during this period in Afghanistan? Who was not?

Latif Ahmadi also alludes to how the Soviets strategically deployed cultural funding across Central Asia in the 20th century, as part of their larger plans to assimilate Central Asian republics into the Soviet Union. How did this play out in other parts of Central Asia, as opposed to Afghanistan? How did Soviet funding and educational opportunities influence film and other cultural production in Africa and the Middle East? How did this contribute to non-aligned and solidarity movements in the 20th century (for example, the traveling exhibitions for Palestine, Chile and South Africa)?

No one interviewed in the film explicitly admits to having been a member of the PDPA, the Afghan Communist Party. Do you think they were members? If so, why would they be unwilling to say so when interviewed in 2018? What else were they likely unwilling or unable to say?

The filmmakers had unusual access to the ARG Presidential Palace complex, and multiple sites from the ARG appear in the film. It opens in the Dilkusha Palace, a key site of both the 1978 April Revolution and the film of the same name. Later, we see the Gul Khana Palace, including the dining room where Daoud’s family was killed and the exact spot in the lobby where his body was found, viewed from behind a marble column on which a bullet hole from that day is preserved. Towards the end, we see the Quti Baqsha, a small palace whose interior decoration was completely destroyed by axe blows when the Taliban arrived in Kabul, but which has been completely restored; you can still see the seams from the axe marks in the miniatures. And in the final minute of the film, we revisit both the spaces of state power, and the spaces of the state film archive, finishing in the projection room where many of the interviews were filmed. What is the importance of these spaces to the film? What is their significance in the past and present of Afghanistan? Why do you think the filmmakers chose not to explicitly identify them for audiences who might not be familiar with them?

The filmmakers interviewed argue that their films, while fictional, still function as records of the history of this period. Do you agree? Do you think the film takes the same position?

Director Mariam Ghani has written about the frequency with which document and fiction are intermingled in classic Afghan films. How does What We Left Unfinished both analyze and deploy this technique? How does this potentially complicate the question of whether and to what degree the archival films can be understood as historical documents?

Lebanese philosopher Jalal Toufic has argued that in the wake of a surpassing disaster, the only tradition that can be mastered is the tradition of surpassing the disaster – i.e. that the art of a post-conflict period is entirely consumed by processing the trauma of the conflict, either explicitly or implicitly. Does What We Left Unfinished fit into this paradigm? How would this film be different if it had been made 20 years earlier or later?