''What We Left Unfinished'' is a 2019 Afghan

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

by Mariam Ghani about five incomplete Afghan films, all started during the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

regime of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. The film premiered at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

in February 2019.

Background and synopsis

During the rule of the

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, later known as the Republic of Afghanistan, was the Afghan state between History of Afghanistan (1978–1992), 1978 and 1992. It was bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, by Iran to the west, by the ...

, the government invested heavily in the film industry, sponsoring many films. Filmmakers were provided with military support too, often using live ammunition and real soldiers on the sets. These films thus also served as propaganda for the regime. The documentary is a culmination of Ghani's six years of research at Afghanistan's National Film Archive in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

. Ghani worked to digitise films from the archive and organised multiple screenings of these at museums and universities around the world. At one such screening, filmmaker Latif Ahmadi learned that the footage of the April 1978 coup in Afghanistan (the

Saur Revolution The Saur Revolution (; ), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was a violent coup d'état and uprising staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which overthrew President of Afghan ...

) was from his 1984 film ''Escape''. He then confessed to Ghani that the footage was originally part of his unfinished 1978 film, ''The April Revolution'', commissioned by then Afghan vice-chairman

Hafizullah Amin Hafizullah Amin (Dari/; 1 August 192927 December 1979) was an Afghan communist head of state, who served in that position for a little over three months, from September 1979 until his assassination. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and ...

to commemorate his role in the revolution. However, before the film could be completed the country was invaded by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in December 1979, leading to Amin's government being overthrown. Ghani then began to search for the incomplete film and discovered four other films which were forced to be abandoned due to political reasons between 1978 and 1992. The documentary consists of clips from the films, accompanied by interviews of the directors, the cast and some crew members. Ghani intended the documentary to raise awareness about the Communist regime in the country. She stated that the films only reflected the lives of a small group of elites, who referred to themselves as the "enlightened people". The Communists are often depicted as "revolutionaries" in these films.

Films featured

The films featured in the documentary include: * ''The April Revolution'' (1978) * ''Soqot'' () (1987) by Faqir Nabi * ''Almas-e Siah'' () (1989) by Khalek Halil * ''Wrong Way'' (1990) * ''Agent'' (1991)

Release

The film premiered at the

on 9 February 2019 and also featured at the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vid ...

in April 2019. It then featured at the

Sheffield Doc/Fest Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest; abbr.Sheffield International Documentary Festival or SIDF) is an international documentary Film festival, festival and industry marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England. The festiv ...

in June 2019 and was nominated for the New Talent award. In 2021, it was announced that film distributor Dekanalog had obtained the rights for the theatrical release of the film in the United States.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 9357838 Afghan documentary films 2019 documentary films 2019 films