FAR FROM AFGHANISTAN
A film by John Gianvito, Jon Jost, Minda Martin, Soon-Mi Yoo, Travis Wilkerson
2012, 129 minutes
2012, 129 minutes
No. 322
Documentary
Documentary
Description
An omnibus film by five American filmmakers and a collective of young Afghan media journalists, Far From Afghanistan forms a mosaic of cinematic approaches to take a critical look at the longest overseas war in U.S. history.
Inspired by the 1967 collaborative film Loin Du Vietnam, Far From Afghanistan likewise unites a variety of filmmakers, cinematographers, editors and technicians in the international effort to redirect U.S. policy away from military and political intervention toward true humanitarian and developmental care-givingas invited.
Inspired by the 1967 collaborative film Loin Du Vietnam, Far From Afghanistan likewise unites a variety of filmmakers, cinematographers, editors and technicians in the international effort to redirect U.S. policy away from military and political intervention toward true humanitarian and developmental care-givingas invited.
The individual segments delve deeply into the war’s toll on Afghans and Americans alike and are bolstered by interstitial reporting and interviews conducted by members of Afghan Voices. Each segment’s distinct vision and artistic approaches, drawn from the segment director’s established filmmaking practice, are unified under the editorial touch of Gianvito, Pacho Velez (The American Sector, The Reagan Show), and Rob Todd. More than a record of protest or critique of American propaganda, Far from Afghanistan puts collective documentary practices in service of a multivocal and distributed activism.
Festivals
Locarno International Film Festival, Official Selection
Toronto International Film Festival, Official Selection
CPH:DOX, Official Selection
Toronto International Film Festival, Official Selection
CPH:DOX, Official Selection
Reviews
“This passionate, multifaceted look at the continuing American involvements in (and denials about) Afghanistan takes us many places where other filmmakers and spectators fear to go, inside and outside that country, showing us the profound connections between what we do and what we choose to ignore.”-Jonathan Rosenbaum
"...something of a definitive statement on a runaway global disaster.”- Michael Atkinson, The Boston Phoenix
“...an experimental, esoteric, genius of a film.”- Michael Moore
“...brilliant, poetic and cold as it should be. I was blown away by it, and by the relentlessness of its exploration.”- Fanny Howe
Radically free in form, bracing in its outrage, and incisive in its perception of the toll war takes on its victims, its participants, and on society as a whole, FAR FROM AFGHANISTAN is a vitally important cinematic cri de coeur.”– Anthology Film Archives
