David Lee, Narrandera Argus
There aren’t many people who can say they have stared into the face of danger in order to show the world a story that needs to be told, but Narrandera resident and cinematographer Jordan Bryon has done just that; and one of those ventures has led him to work on a feature film for the New York Times (NYT).
For almost six years, Jordan has been living in Afghanistan and more recently working alongside colleague, Farzad Fetrat on the feature film.
The two have been travelling to a remote village in the mountains on the eastern side of Afghanistan, where they have been embedding with the Taliban unit and putting together the piece for the NYT.
Jordan’s prior work has received noted attention, having not only been a winner of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club 2022 Human Rights Press Awards but he also received an honourable mention following a finalist entry at the Humanitarian Storytelling Awards administered by the Walkley Foundation. And this new film is set to follow that noteworthy trend.
Jordan said, “My interest for Afghanistan stems from my mother who was big on helping Afghanistan women. I was introduced to Afghanistan literature and my interest continued to peak from there.
“Mid last year, the Taliban started swiftly taking over the country. Many people fled, but a handful of us foreigners decided to stay to continue our work as filmmakers and journalists.
“Whilst it was a relatively peaceful takeover, Afghanistan has faced a lot of tragedy and the war has been raging on for more than 30 years, but this was probably the worst day that some Afghans had seen since the 1990s.
“Despite the terror my family was feeling, they trusted my decision to stay, even though we didn’t know what was going to happen. We were worried they may conduct public executions or that there would be a civil war. We were all bracing ourselves in the hours they marched on the city.
“It’s strange to talk about my personal experience with the Taliban. The Afghans are the ones who have had their country taken from them and handed to an extremist group.
They are starving because the Taliban can’t get the economy sorted. Girls can’t go to school and human rights are out the window. Most of the rights they have fought so hard to get over the past 20 years were erased overnight when the Taliban returned.
“Afghanistan is the most beautiful country I have ever seen. I have travelled to over 35 countries and Afghanistan is stunning. The people are really warm, the culture is really strong and the landscapes are beautiful. It really gets under your skin.
When you think about it, everything is possible in Afghanistan, from the most abhorrent to the most incredible. The best and worst of humanity are there. Extremes live side-by-side; hope and despair, courage and fear, destruction and progress.
“There are two Afghanistans that I know; the one before the Taliban takeover and one after.
“The film itself follows one Talib in particular who has spent his life fighting the war and doing Jihad, and now that the country is in the hands of the Taliban, he and many other fighters are at a loss of what to do with their lives. It’s an infinite look at what this fighter is going to do with his life now that the war is finished as well as the shortcomings of the Taliban’s ability to govern the country through the stories of the young Taliban fighters.
“We are aiming for Sundance Film Festival release for the film, which kicks off in late January.
“I also have another very controversial feature film that I am a character in. It isn’t something that I can discuss just yet as I have to go back there to film more, but this film is also planned for release in January, which we are confident will be part of Sundance Film Festival as well.
“On top of this I have also worked on another film that will be released as part of the Toronto Film Festival and is set to feature on Netflix eventually, titled ‘In Her Hands.’ And, there is currently another series on Netflix at the moment that I was the cinematographer for called ‘Turning Point 9/11’ where I worked on the Afghanistan section of the series.”
To view a short clip by Jordan that paved the way for the feature film for the New York Times, search for ‘Inside an Abandoned Mansion That 150 Taliban Now Call Home’ on YouTube.
This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 8 September 2022.