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Christophe de Ponfilly
Behind the scenes of a terrorism said to be "Islamic", with which we are permanently threatened in the same way as children used to be frightened by telling them tales of the bogy man, is Afghanistan. A country I discovered in 1981, which I have crossed on foot several times and which I have filmed for my documentaries. A country from which I learned some truths which remained in the shadows.
During one of my clandestine trips to this country in 1984, Massoud freed a young soviet soldier that had been captured by his men and wished come to the West. With the person that at the time was helping me with the equipment, we were able, after a difficult voyage through the Hindou-Koush, to bring him to Pakistan. Unfortunately in Peshawar, the political representatives of Massoud’s party did not approve the decision of his liberation. They took our Russian friend, who was killed a few months later. This story did not arouse the interest of many people in Western countries. But it was from it that I started to think about making a movie.
The media frenzy that followed the events of September 2001 and the obsession for terrorism that ensued, only increased my desire to shoot this movie. After September 11th the most disparate things have been said on Afghanistan. During the Taleban period, Afghans were seen as dangerous fanatics, after having been depicted as caricatures of uncouth, violent, feudal warriors.By all means the distance between reality and its representation has dramatically increased.
Christophe de Ponfilly
Christophe de Ponfilly was an actor, director, producer and writer. He was editor in chief, together with Frédéric Laffont, of the press agency Interscoop. He founded the production company Albert Films and the distribution company Doc & Co. Among his publications are “Massoud, l’Afghan”, “Le clandestin”, “Les gobeurs de lunes”, “Poussières de guerre” and “Vies clandestines”. He directed the documentary collections Zanzi Bar and Aux p’tits bonheurs, la France. From 1983 he directed a number of documentaries, with a focus on the political and social situation of Afghanistan, but also of Angola, Zimbabwe and Indonesia. Among his many documentaries a worthy mention goes to Massoud l’Afghan (1998), the portrayal of the legendary charismatic leader of the Afghan resistance against the soviet army. Christophe de Ponfilly died this year on the 16th of May, at the age of 55. He was preparing his second feature film, a satire on modern day media.
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