Download - Scottish Screen

“We wanted
to spread
awareness of
Afghanistan
beyond the
image of bombs
and burkhas.” -
Dan Gorman
The Boy who plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan
Aside from the established
Edinburgh and Glasgow
Film Festivals, there’s a
wealth of smaller but no less
important events in the Scottish
film calendar, which reflect the
rich cultural diversity of the
country they take part in. One of
the latest is the Reel Afghanistan
festival, which began in 2008
with a difficult remit: to raise
awareness of a country which is
frequently only understood in
terms of newspaper headlines
and political argument. An
audience of over 6000 people
turned up, much to the delight
of Dan Gorman, one of the
group of six organisers for Reel
Afghanistan.
“The main aim of the festival was to
spread awareness of Afghanistan beyond
the image of bombs and burkhas which
is generally found in the mainstream
media,” says Gorman. “We wanted to
make it possible for people in Edinburgh
and the UK to access more information
about Afghanistan and to enable some
sort of dialogue between people here and
Afghan filmmakers and musicians.”
The festival was inspired by Gorman’s
own trip to the country, and the
determination and spirit of the Afghan
filmmakers, which made a deep
impression on him.
“On a visit to Afghanistan in 2006 with
my fellow Reel Afghanistan co-ordinator
Zahra Qadir and representatives of the
Afghan Schools Trust, we discussed
the possibility of hosting a film festival
in Kabul. On our return we found people
so eager to hear of our experiences we
thought it would be equally valid to host
the equivalent here - a festival of Afghan
Film and Culture,” says Gorman. “We
also wanted to support the arts and film
industry in Afghanistan; one of the things
that constantly amazed and impressed us
on our visit there was the resilience of the
arts and the Afghan led drive to continue
these cultural activities.”
Highlights of the 2008 festival, which
was sponsored by Scottish Screen and
the British Council, and co-ordinated by
Edinburgh University Settlement, Afghan
Schools Trust and Firefly International,
included director Atiq Rahimi, presenting
his film Earth and Ashes and leading a
masterclass with Scottish filmmakers,
as did gifted filmmaker and outspoken
raconteur Richard Stanley. The whole
event was covered by BBC Persia, which
relayed the proceedings at Edinburgh’s
Filmhouse to a wide international
audience.
“For the future, we’re also looking at doing
a Scottish film festival in Kabul, hosting
a Central Asian festival , hosting an Iraqi
film festival or maybe a Balkan festival in
Edinburgh,” says Gorman. “And cinemas
as far afield as Melbourne, Amsterdam
and America are interested in hosting the
Afganistan festival, so who knows what
will happen next?”
www.reelafghanistan.org
[ Scottish Screen National Lottery funded: Audience Development ]