Synopsis
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. All five films – THE APRIL REVOLUTION (1978), DOWNFALL (1987), THE BLACK DIAMOND (1989), WRONG WAY (1990), and AGENT (1991) – completed principal photography before being canceled by the state or abandoned by the filmmakers. Never edited, they escaped the final censors’ cut. And while all five films are fictional, they each record some aspect of the period.
WHAT WE LEFT UNFINISHED brings together the 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. Just as the original filmmakers did when they shot action scenes with real bullets, hired ex-agents to play spies, or restaged the Communist coup d’état with the army, air force, and an awful lot of tanks and missiles, WHAT WE LEFT UNFINISHED interweaves histories and fictions. We call on the filmmakers to explain how their fictions were constructed, how much truth was in these fictions and how true they sometimes became in their making. And ultimately, we come to understand both the price paid by Afghan filmmakers for the benefits they gained under Communism and the reasons they persisted despite the risks they faced –and why they still believe that film could save Afghanistan from the divisions tearing it apart today.
Khalek Halil’s unfinished film The Black Diamond
Specs
Documentary feature
USA/Afghanistan/Qatar 2019
71 min
Shooting formats: 4K + UHD (new footage), 35mm (archival transfers)
Screening format: 2K DCP, 5.1 sound
Production companies: Indexical Films (NY), Ajna Films (NY/LA)
Production note: archival footage from all unfinished films was discovered as unedited, silent rushes, with the exception of AGENT, which was received as a rough cut with partial ADR.
Credits
Directed + produced by Mariam Ghani
Executive producer Alysa Nahmias
Editor Ian Olds
Featuring Engineer Latif Ahmadi, Hossain Fakhri, Said Miran Farhad, Juwansher Haidary, Wali Latifi, Faqir Nabi, and Yasamin Yarmal
With the participation of Shirindad Dakkoi, Sarwardin Haidari, Sultan Istalifi and Ali Latifi
Archival films featuring Farid Fayz, Adela Adeem, Nemat Arash, Asadullah and Zarghuna Aram, Qader Faroukh, Esturay Mangal, Farida, Lina, Juwansher Haidary, Nur Hashem Abir, Wali Talash, Habib Zorghai, Saboor Khinji, Saboor Toukhan, Mari Omeid, Salaam Tsangi, Nassima Jalal, Abdullah Samadi, Faif Azouly, Fay Ebadi, Faqir Kawider, Sharif Kheir Khwo, Tsang Chikan, Said Miran Farhad, Yasamin Yarmal, Homeira, and Hafizullah Amin as himself
Original music written & performed by Qasim Naqvi
Published by Erased Tapes Music Ltd
Cinematography (US/Afghanistan): Adam Hogan
Production manager (Kabul): Saleem Yousofzada
Second unit (Kabul): Latif Ahmadi, Faqir Nabi, Ibrahim Arify, Parwiz Arify
Sound (Kabul): Parwiz Arify
Additional camera + sound (London): Bevis Bowden, Meenakshi Thirukode
Research: Zainab Haidariy, Egor Sofronov, Anya Syreischikova
Translation: Daria Bobrenko, Ali Latifi, Rajni Prakash, Freshta Taeb, Saleem Yousufzada
Telecine technicians: Hasib Sediqi, Fayaz Lutfi (Afghan Films), Daniel Lord (NFB)
Colorists: Adam Hogan, Ryan Thomas Jenkins, Laura Stayton
Sound engineering: Stephen McLaughlin
Sound design: Mariam Ghani, Stephen McLaughlin
Foley artists: Alexis Bhagat, Mariam Ghani, Senem Pirler, Melissa Salli
Online edit: Rachel Bozich, Ryan Thomas Jenkins, Mariam Ghani
Assistant editors: Rachel Bozich, Christopher McKee, Emily Eberhart
Titles: Mariam Ghani
String library courtesy of the London Contemporary Orchestra
Poster illustration by Moshtari Hilal, design by Seen Studio
Legal services: Justine Jacob, Focus Media Law
Music from the films Akhtar the Joker, Epic of Love, Migrant Birds, The Suitor (featuring Roksana) and Those Who Fire courtesy of Afghan Films and the National Archive of Afghanistan
Archival footage from the unfinished films The April Revolution (dir. Daoud Farani), The Black Diamond (dir. Abdul Khalek Halil), Downfall (dir. Faqir Nabi), and Wrong Way (dir. Juwansher Haidary) courtesy of Afghan Films, the National Archive of Afghanistan, and the filmmakers
Archival footage from the films Agent and Escape (dir. Latif Ahmadi) courtesy of Afghan Films, the National Film Board of Canada, the National Archive of Afghanistan, and the filmmaker
Archival footage from the film Afghanistan: The Revolution Continues (dir. Malek Kayoumov) courtesy of the Krasnogorsk Archive, Moscow
Completed with the support of the Women Make Movies Production Assistance Program and TFI Network
Major funding provided by Creative Capital, Doha Film Institute, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature
Additional funding provided by Art Matters, the Barjeel Foundation, and the Kamel Lazaar Foundation
With research support from Secession, Vienna; the 18th Street Arts Center, Los Angeles; and the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow
Post-production support from EMPAC, the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and DCP services provided by the Standby Program at Chromavision
Special thanks to Palwasha & Wafi Amin, Rafiq Azizi, Qayyum Kochai, and Rula Ghani