🇦🇫Kabul at Work l Witness

Four ordinary Afghans share their reflections on their country in a refreshing look at Kabul at work rather than war.

Before starting work on my film, Kabul at Work, I had spent some time in Afghanistan where I met photojournalist David Gill. David had started the Kabul at Work multimedia project and asked me to collaborate through film.

As freelancers we were able to move around and speak to people relatively freely. We were fascinated by the extraordinary stories of ordinary people everywhere we went – from the butcher to the baker to the candlestick maker.

Of course not many people get to go to Afghanistan, so their understanding of the place comes from what they hear on the news, which focuses almost entirely on the war and its fallout.

This war, and previous ones over the last three decades, continue to affect every inhabitant of Afghanistan. You cannot escape that. Yet, despite and in spite of the turmoil, there are brave and fascinating people trying to get on with their lives and daily business.
It always strikes me when reading newspapers and watching the news, that what we hear about Afghanistan always comes from the politicians, the military, analysts and experts – everyone seems to have an opinion without ever knowing the answer.

But very rarely do we hear the voices of ordinary Afghans. There is no voiceover used in this documentary. Each of the four characters did a master interview and was filmed doing what they do. It is pure and simple.

The idea was to create a snapshot of life in Kabul – a human portrait of a city at work. The film is loosely structured around the course of a day, starting with the General as she gets up and goes to work, and finishing with the 95-year-old bonesetter closing the door as the sun goes down.

The theme of work – talking to people about their jobs and how they feel about them – was interesting in itself and I learnt lots about parachute jumping, sweetmaking, taekwondo and fixing bones. It was also a smooth segue into other facets of life and experience.

Film by By Oliver Englehart

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