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'Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi'
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This is the second part of a series on documentary films.
For a number of years, the Greater Port Jefferson-Northern Brookhaven Arts Council has presented a series of award-winning documentary films. In addition to showing the documentaries, the arts council provides audiences with a speaker who is associated with the film's production. This affords those in attendance the opportunity to gain further insights and to participate in a question and answer session. The arts council prides itself on offering a wide variety of top-notch documentaries, and the selections for the upcoming fall series live up to that standard.
"Fixer: the Taking of Ajmal
Naqshbandi"
"I think many Americans have the feeling that Iraq is a bad war and Afghanistan is a good war," said documentary filmmaker Ian Olds. "But it's too late for that." Olds has solid grounds for his opinions on the two ongoing hostilities. His 2005 film, "Operation Dreamland" (which was screened in a previous Port Jefferson Arts Council Documentary Series) garnered several awards for its first-hand account of the day-to-day lives of American soldiers in harm's way in Falluja and of their thoughts and opinions regarding the war in Iraq.
In Olds' latest directive endeavor, "Fixer: the Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi," he explores the corrupt world of post-9/11 Afghanistan, where the lure of the Taliban's swift, puritanical form of justice continues to woo the loyalties of the poor.
Ajmal Naqshbandi was a "fixer," a term applied to a translator who functions as a lifeline for journalists by arranging transportation and interviews for them, a service described by Naqshbandi as "bringing one enemy to meet another." Though extremely lucrative, such work is inherently dangerous, and, in serving as a go-between for American reporter Christian Parenti, Naqshbandi, along with an Italian journalist, is kidnapped by Taliban fighters during a dangerous trip into enemy territory. Daniele Mastriogia, the Italian journalist, is set free in exchange for five Taliban prisoners, but the attempt to save Naqshbandi is bungled, and he is forgotten. His captors then brutally behead him.
Olds originally met Parenti in Iraq and, interested in the fixer-journalist relationship, he journeyed to Afghanistan with the intent of focusing on that dynamic. Before he could begin, however, tragedy struck. "My first thought [on hearing of Naqshbandi's murder] was to abandon the project," said Olds. "I was sickened by what had happened, and telling the story seemed vulgar. The idea of basically using someone's death as a dramatic device was so distasteful to me."
But, after looking at the footage, Olds changed his mind. "He died in a specific time and place, and the goal was to evoke the web of history and power he was embedded in and not lose sight of the man," Olds said. "I came to feel like it was an obligation to come back to Afghanistan."
Naqshbandi, self-taught in English, was only 24, newly married and also supporting his parents and two brothers when he died. According to Olds, a fixer can make up to $200 a day, and up to $5,000 for an interview with the Taliban. By comparison, a government employee makes about $7 a month. "That's why corruption is so rampant; it's not moral weakness, but it's not enough to support a family," Olds explained. "Fixers are integral to the news-gathering process," he added. "The Western journalist is interpreting the culture through their connections and credibility. You rely on them for everything, linguistically and culturally."
According to Olds, local Afghans like Naqshbandi are not certain who will ultimately gain the upper hand in their country — the American-supported government or the Taliban — and so they are therefore careful to keep one foot in each camp. Most of Olds' documentary was shot with a hand-held camera, giving the film a sense of urgency and a gritty realism.
Olds insists that he has both "a sense of awe and a sense of despair" regarding the future of Afghanistan, but admits that his two war films have taken their toll and that he is likely to return to fiction. "Fixer: the Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi," will be shown at Theatre Three at 7 pm on Oct. 8. Director Ian Olds will be on hand to speak and answer questions.
The Greater Port Jefferson-Northern Brookhaven Arts Council, supported by a number of local sponsors, seeks to present award-winning documentary films and interactive experiences to interested and involved audiences. Unless otherwise noted, admission to the documentaries is $5, $4 for students, seniors and arts council members. Stony Brook students are admitted free to the Wang Center.
All screenings in the series are on Mondays and begin at 7 pm. Theatre Three is located at 412 Main Street in Port Jefferson, and the Charles B. Wang Center is located on the campus of Stony Brook University. For more information, call the arts council
at 473-5220 or visit the website at www.gpjac.org.
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