I first visited Afghanistan in December 2003. Since then, I’ve been back several times to give photo and video training workshops to young students, journalists and social workers. Given the nature of my work, I spent a lot of time with these young people, many of whom have lived much of their lives in exile and who today, squeezed between the weight of tradition and the inequalities of modernity, are dreaming of a new society.

Afghan Chronicles differs from journalists’ reports on Afghanistan. It is not better or fairer, just complementary. It takes viewers into a different reality, to the heart of the disruptions that have shaken this country. It shows events from the inside to reveal the density and complexity of the region’s history.

Afghan Chronicles tells us about something other than obscurantism. We discover another Afghanistan, one of ambitious projects, such as KillidMedia, as well as the fragile utopias of the men and women working on those projects. This documentary aims to lift the veil that recent history has thrown over the country, and to tear down a myth, that of the Afghan: “Formerly, a medieval warrior in the heart of the Afghan mountains, then a proud freedom fighter against the Soviet ogre, now an Islamic fanatic with barbarous designs …¹ ”

In short, my journey through Kabul aboard the vehicle that distributed the magazines Killid and Mursal gave me an entry into a society that wants to rebuild its country come what may.

Dominic Morissette

¹Pascal Blanchard, Eric Deroo, « Les images meurent aussi », Africultures, le site et la revue de référence des cultures africaines, October 4, 2002 (Internet Edition).

How is a dream born? It is born of peace.
How is a dream born? It is born of a full belly.
How is a dream born? It is born of true unity.
How is a dream born? It is born of justice.
All this is in itself a dream.
What else can we dream of?

— Abdul Khafar, photographer

After the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001, Afghanistan underwent a period of profound disruption. The presidential elections of 2004 followed by the election of a legislature in 2005 are evidence that the country is committed to the democratic process. After twenty-five years of war and privation, Kabul, the capital, is coming back to life and its citizens can dare to hope. Girls are back in school and there is some press freedom. But at street level, progress is still uncertain and reconstruction is a slow process. At a time when the television news is often limited to the latest sensational events, Dominic Morissette ’s Afghan Chronicles portrays the rebuilding of a country that dreams of a better future, and presents the vital issues with which this reborn society must contend.

In order to throw light on the struggles of this changing society, the filmmaker focuses on the resurgence of the media in Afghanistan since 2002. The central theme of the film is the press group Killid Media (“key” in Persian), a publishing phenomenon that hopes to be an engine of change. The agency, founded by Afghans returned from exile, produces two weekly magazines (Killid and Mursal, a women’s publication) and runs a radio station. Through its nation-wide distribution network, this small empire can influence the whole of Afghanistan. Its goal is to inform, to educate and to combat the illiteracy of a large percentage of the population by providing popular accessible content in both the country’s official languages, Dari and Pashto. In this struggle against ignorance and obscurantism women play a vital role. In the face of entrenched prejudice, they unhesitatingly put their own lives at risk to challenge social taboos and validate the rights of their sisters. The film chronicles changing attitudes within a deeply patriarchal, even feudal, society.

Afghan Chronicles follows the daily activities of Kamal Nassir, the distribution manager of this new press, as he drives around Kabul visiting the news-stands and sales points. Kamal meets a range of people whose comments give us a glimpse of the impact of this new voice on post-war Afghanistan, still shaken by regional conflicts in which foreign powers are involved. The documentary also introduces us to the successful magazine Killid and to the everyday lives of the women journalists of Mursal. The world of Afghan women and their aspirations is revealed through reports in the field and editorial committee meetings at which each issue’s content is decided. For these women the press is a consciousness-raising tool that enables them to combat old ideas and to help change society. We also meet Farouk Wuruksai, the highly educated host of Radio Killid who wants to revive Afghan culture through his broadcasts, and the old street photographer Abdul Khafar, who talks about the war, corruption and social injustice but also stresses that Afghans themselves are responsible for these internecine conflicts. All these individuals want to believe in peace and the reconstruction of their country, despite the threat of a possible return of the Taliban.

Afghan Chronicles is an in-depth look at Kabul, a city battered and devastated by years of war, a work in progress where powerful ancient traditions persist alongside the arrogance of modern life and its inequalities. Kabul is a city full of life and enthusiasm, a seething mass of humanity struggling to emerge from stagnation. The film takes us along with Kamal Nassir to different neighbourhoods in the Afghan capital, where we witness the frantic confusion of a people trying to come to terms with a new era. Everything has to be rebuilt from scratch and achievements are few and fragile, but many forces are at work in the effort to move out of isolation and into the modern world.

By taking us into the heart of Kabul and showing it in an unusual way, Afghan Chronicles plunges us into the reality of an emerging nation. The tour of the city, filmed in long sequence shots, structures the story and becomes in a sense a metaphor for change, composing a portrait-in-the-round of a shattered cityscape seeking to rebuild itself. It serves as a link between the various characters who reveal themselves to us under the tactful but searching camerawork of Dominic Morissette and Catherine Pappas. Between the noisy background of the on-the-spot street footage, and the moreprivate interviews that bring us closer to the citizens of Kabul, the film becomes the mouthpiece for voices that clamour for greater freedom of action.

In studying a country that is slowly moving towards democracy, Afghan Chronicles shows how fragile that process is. Six months after the first part of the film was shot, things had changed: continuing social inequality and growing insecurity had led to simmering discontent and Kabul was once again living in fear. What will become of the dreams cherished by this land trying to remake itself? The future is unclear, but the people still dare to hope.

Mother, come back home.
Come and read me a story,
A story with a happy ending
With brightly coloured songs.
I have had enough of war.
I am a broken branch!
I want you close to me
To sing of a new world.
I want to be a drop of water
Or a rainbow over my country
To bring out flowers and smiles.

— Marzia Monsif’s daughter