Doc Warriors

Premiering at Tribeca Film Festival April 29, Shadow of Afghanistan chronicles the history of the beleaguered nation and its people from President Dwight Eisenhower's friendly visit in 1959, through Soviet invasion and expulsion and the ensuing civil war, to the post-9/11 melee of American bombing and occupation.

Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Suzanne Bauman and Jim Burroughs worked on the film for the better part of 20 years, enduring danger and debt to complete it.

We've been hooked on the story since 1986, when Jim was filming in refugee camps on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. There, he met Wakil Akbarzai, a principal player in Shadow of Afghanistan. We never lost track of Wakil, a commander in one of seven tribes constituting Afghanistan's population, says Bauman.

We'd become even more committed to the story in 1987, when we'd learned that Lee Shapiro, the New York filmmaker, was killed in action. We joined forces with his group to finish the project. We've felt Lee's spirit urging us to finish the work.

MERIN: Why has it taken 20 years to finish?

BAUMAN: We sought completion funding whenever the story peaked: in '89 as Soviet forces withdrew, '92 as the Soviet-backed government fell, '94 when civil war erupted, but all documentary funding sources refused us, saying the film didn't fit their guidelines, or the story wasn't important. Ironically, several typed letters of rejection had hand-scrawled margin notes saying the subject and our footage are extraordinary, and we must finish the filmbut no money. Go figure. We were astonished, furiousbecame more determined to see the project through.

Why finish now?

9/11 brought focus to Afghanistan as an al-Qaeda base. That day, The New York Times' cover was about the assassination of Commander Masoud, the charismatic Mujahideen leader who warned about Osama Bin Laden, Mullah Omar, Pakistan's Musharraf and al-Qaeda's impending attack. Masoud was moderate, reaching out to Western governments; al-Qaeda killed him right before 9/11.

With footage of Torabora in hand, we approached the networks for support. Everyone wanted our footage, but refused to fund us. With that, it became clear to me we'd have to complete the film independently. Fundraising's a fulltime job. I might as well spend the time editing the filmand getting it seen.

Afghanistan's story's still unfolding, but it's important that people know now what happened because they can influence the outcome. This documentary sets the record straight: Afghans didn't destroy the twin towers.

Is that why you wanted to premier at Tribeca Film Festival?

Absolutely. The festival was born of the same impulse that compelled us to finish this film, which ends at Ground Zero, in a prayer for peace. We're grateful for Peter Scarlet's support.

Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki's said documentaries are replacing news media as the public's primary source for accurate information. Do you agree?

Yes, but it's a glass half-full/half-empty situation. Half-full is that audiences watch serious documentaries, and they're not at all blaséit's great knowing your film will be seen and discussed. Half-empty is that documentary funding from news media's dried upbecause most media's mission is public relations for powers that be, rather than objective reportage about what's happening in the world.

But is objectivity possible? You don't seem objective about Afghanistan.

You use all elements you've gathered to tell the story as truthfully as possible, without proselytizing. But filmmaking's an art. An artist without a point of view fails at the job.

Filmmakers and newsmen are different, although related like friendly cousins. Journalists doing nightly news standups use sound bites without giving much context. Documentaries require long form writing. You get inside the story, working the way you'd write poetry, revising again and again to make sure it's rightbeginning, middle and end.

As for drawing conclusions, Shadow of Afghanistan shows the Afghans are on our side, but if we repeat Soviet mistakes, they'll turn on us. Then you won't be happy with what you see because these are fiercely independent people who do not give up. They don't quit, as you can see from Lee Shapiro's footage of their traditional Buzkashi game.

You don't either. How many trips were made to Afghanistan? Was it dangerous?

In all, Jim and (co-producer) Dan Devaney went to Afghanistan 17 times. They were often in danger.

In 2001, when Jim went alonewith neither funding nor crewAmerica was bombing, Osama Bin Laden was in hiding, nobody knew if the Taliban or Northern Alliance controlled the country and Jim was filming in the Torabora Mountains, asking if there were Arabs nearby. This was insanely risky.

Four journalists were murderedI didn't know whether Jim was one of them. Thankfully, he was OK.

The murdered journalists were driving to Kabul without armed guards. Not smart. Al-Qaeda ambushed them, yanked them from their trucks, beat and murdered them. Jim documented everything. His footage of their coffins is in the film. It was horrible.