Does anyone hear our voices

Does anyone hear our voices?
Young Afghan Filmmakers need your supports!

Deedenow Cinema, a private production of young Afghan Filmmakers, established to shape and presents an independent artistic cinema in Afghanistan.

Women, children, religious and ethnic minorities and victims of human rights violation in Afghanistan are the main themes and subjects of our filmmaking activities.

We focus on independence of cinema from any kind of pressure, influences, partisan and misusage to keep an independent artistic cinema in Afghanistan.

We are the youth, we know that we have a long way ahead, but fortunately or unfortunately we live in a stage of time, when there is need of doing something for.

We want to play a great role in the transitional period of our history when new and unaccustomed words are heard in our terminology but not understood, said but not applied.

We are not only living in the era of requirements and challenges of the new millennium but as an Afghan society with more complicated cultural – social ad tribal challenges of our own specific types.

The words democracy, human rights, justice, progress, prosperity are the terminologies which the Afghans are not familiar with but only have heard about.

In this way, there is need of many kinds of tools and mediums to brighten the minds the best of which is cinema; comprehensive and popular to bring great changes.

In the era of technology when the sky is easily touched, why can’t the hearts be caught?
Thus our motto is “Wanna catch the hearts!” based on which we want to connect our people with the world through our independent artistic cinema but with new way of looking at things therefore we have chosen the name, Deedenow which means New Vision in Dari language.

We believe that cinema is the third eye for human beings, thus things are seen differently through it, how ever our efforts are to show the others how things seem to us.

One part or one side of our activities are our people and our country but the other part which is a decoder of our messages to whom we have to communicate our message, our vision, and the way how we see things in the world, is the viewers and target audiences and is finally you.

Thus relying on the proverb, “the friend in need is the friend indeed” we have chosen you as a friend to open our heart before, saying that; do you hear our voices? Young Afghan filmmakers need your supports!

You have read our views and heard our voices, it now depends on you whether you do what you can do for us as a friend or not.

What we expect you to do for us is only:

Join us to see things through our lenses.

Visit our weblogs on daily basis to know about Afghan Cinema and filmmakers.

Send this address to your friends interested in Afghan Cinema.

Introduce us to the film festivals, film productions and film schools of your country.

Introduce our products in your hometown and homeland.

Give your comments on the articles and contents of our weblog.

Link us to your websites and weblogs.

Keep in touch with us on frequent basis.

Co-produce the screenplays we have ready to shoot if you can.

And if you can;

Kindly donate us new and or your second hand filmmaking equipments such as second hand digital photography and video cameras, tripods, lights, booms, camera lenses and filters, and any extra equipment that you have for the promotion of Afghan Independent Artistic Cinema.

Be ever green but don’t forget to visit us again!

How an independent cinema forms

How an independent cinema forms

Since its birth in the late nineteenth century by The Lumiers, the cinema has gradually evolved in different shapes and forms.
By passing time, the cinema emerged to have the strongest and the most expensive essence; as a mixture of arts and technology.

Movies were first made to pass time and bring smiles and cheers to the people’s faces while they became the strongest mean to express one’s vision and feelings of his surroundings to the others as time passed, thus cinema became a tool for different purpose thereafter.

During the war times, the cinema could play the role of a tool of the campaign for the parties in conflict and is used for political propagandas of regimes.

When there is peace, the cinema could be a good entertainer, a good source of income, a good encoder of messages and a good conformity for possibility of any thing in the world. And again it depends on how it has been used which still depending on specific main factors which have direct influences on it; the thoughts and opinions of filmmaker from his surroundings, the targeted audiences and economy.

Cinema in its age of more than a century has had trends in different directions but predictions and foreseeing have always been main characteristics of it in all decades of its history.

There are filmmakers who make films of their dreams and imaginations and on the other hand there are filmmakers who in every step of filmmaking activities consider the target audiences choices and satisfaction, therefore they rely very much on economy and box- office. The economy which is a huge and necessary supporter of the cinema has a great influence on it in different ways which is obviously seen in the outcomes of the cinematic products.

There are, how ever, filmmakers in all decades of the age of cinema, who think independently and make what and how they think, they don’t care about what the others think about what they do and how the economy plays role in their work, they are only fond of cinema hating following the footpaths of the others thus they are all the time, seen to be moving opposite the mainstreams.

They are curious and tired of the normality and usuality thus they often think differently, and the others call them independent filmmakers, how ever their films are more specific audiences oriented.

It is not that they make films of what they dream or imagine about but in fact they make films of how differently they see the world thus they chose the cinema as their third eye.
Looking for one of those who think differently who believe they should influence their surroundings not the surroundings would influence them, but finally we found that;

We ourselves are one of them, thinking independently and making what we think.
This is how an independent cinema forms!

There we go!

Poster for " I am hangry mom!"

Soon we are full hands with the first actual production of Deedenow Cinema “I am hungry mom!”

“I am hungry mom!” is the title of short fiction which is the first actual production of Deedenow Cinema after its establishment. The screenplay is written by Mohammad Amin Wahidi and soon it will be directed by him in March 2007. The screenplay after being completed by Amin Wahidi has been reviewed and certified by Academy of Arts and Cinematic Studies in Kabul who will technically support the production of this short film. “ I am hungry mom!” which at the beginning titled “Homa” as the name of its main character, is about a small girl who is looking for treasures in the ruin buildings of Kabul after hearing the tales of treasures form her mother. It will be filmed in Kabul and poverty, hunger, ruins and the war affected children are focused on in this short film.

It is to say that after completion, this film will be sent to the national and international film festivals.

Film information:

Film title: I am hungry mom!
Subject: Explore of a seven year old Afghan girl, who is looking for the treasures in the ruin houses in Afghanistan based on the legend she has heard from her sick mother that “treasures are in the ruins”.
Screenplay writer: Mohammad Amin Wahidi
Director: Mohammad Amin Wahidi
Length: 20 minutes
Format: digital
Language: Dari (Persian)
Subtitle: English
Producer: Deed-e-now Cinema Production
Production year: 2007
Status: pre- production

I am hungry mom!
(The story of a curious little girl in the ruins of Afghanistan)


Synopsis:

Homa is a seven / eight year old Afghan girl who lives with her mother and her brother. Her father has been disappeared during the Taliban regime and they know nothing about him since then. Half a day Homa goes to school and half a day she weaves carpet at home with Homayoon her brother. Carpet is the only income for their livelihood though her mother is infected with tuberculosis because of weaving carpet for years and years.
At nights her mother tells her different tales and legends and hearing them Homa goes to sleep. One night her mother tells her the legend of the poor boy and the treasure an ancient traditional tale. After she hears this legend from her sick mother, she decides to look for and find out the treasures in the ruins of her home town.
Finally she faces with different things that bring her memories of the years of war and Taliban regime when she finds different old and broken items from the ruin houses and buildings each of which is the symbol of different mementos and different stories.



Why this subject?!

Afghanistan is a country that has been under the focus of different counties of international community and foreign aids and this focus has been very widely spreaded out in the media and press of the world after the disaster of September 11th 2001. From the eye of a filmmaker the very important part of the focus of international community in this country is the very bottom layer of the society, or the hungry bare feet people of the citizens of the country. How these aids have affected the lives of these low class citizens of the society it is very important.

Despite of all these aids, reconstructions and propagandas there are still people looking for their daily food, there are still people dying of hunger and very dangerous diseases they faced with because of poverty and there are under age children still being forced to work to feed the families who have lost their guardian in the civil war and there are still ruined house across the country even the capital city of the country, Kabul. And there still four things that are very obvious even for a foreign visitor to this country and they are: Poverty, hunger, ruins and orphan children who beg or work on the roads.

As per the geological surveys being conducted in this country, the available underground minds and minerals are enough at least to feed the people and to help them in their livelihood, but when they all be extracted and be used for the well of the poor citizens god knows!

This is a question of young and old people of Afghanistan that where do these foreign aids go? How will this aids and assistances affect the lives of poor people of Afghanistan? In this story Homa a seven year old girl who has lost her father during the Taliban, is exploring the ruins of her country looking for treasures as has heard a legend from her sick mother about it; “The treasures are in the ruins”. Then she faces with some other realities and truths!

After this short film “Keys of the Paradise” is the second screenplay which is also written by Mohammad Amin Wahidi will be produced by Deed-e- now Cinema Production and that is about an Afghan suicide bomber who at the last minutes decides not to suicide himself. The Keys of the paradise depicts the last 24 hours of life of an Afghan suicide bomber Mullah who in the last minute decides no to suicide himself for some humanitarian visions and imaginations he founds.

Wish success for the interested productions / individuals who want to invest on such projects in Afghanistan in the future.

A cinematic Life?!

Views of ruined cinema building in Kabul form inside and outside

A cinematic life?!

A memento of producing cinema program for ATN
(By M. Amin Wahidi)

Recently I am working on a screenplay the story of which has come to my mind just by a glance to a broken and ruined movie theatre building in Kabul Afghanistan. It is a memento of when I was producing “Chashme Sheshayee” a cinematic program on Ariana Television Network in Kabul, the time when I wanted to introduce the cinema halls in Kabul and I passed by Fakhri cinema which is totally destroyed in the war. I heard some voices form inside of the cinema hall, I was more curious to see what was inside so I approached the building entrance to see what is going on there. It just shocked me when I saw a family of five was living in the ruined building of a cinema as in their home. A little girl and a little boy were playing on the stage which had no roof on it. The father who had one leg was breaking wood for the fire in the samovar and the mother was washing clothes.
Another boy of them who seemed to be the eldest son of the family works with his father to earn for their livelihood as per saying of the parents.
They make tea at home and sell it to people by serving on a small cart near their home.

I really was confused, to cry or to laugh seeing this situation, but it was not only Fakhri cinema, which is ruined. There are many other movie theatres such as, Barekoot cinema, Kabul Nandari cinema, Maiwand cinema and Kote Sangi cinema which are all broken down due to the civil war and other crises, which one I should cry for?

Seeing all these I went to depth of my thoughts, why was this family forced to live in this building? When this building is going to be reconstructed? What will happen to this family if the building is to be reconstructed? And worse than that what will happen to the culture of cinema in Afghanistan if this ruined cinema hall and other similar ones will not be reconstructed soon? They are the nerve racking questions that jingled in my mind.
But finally I came to a point and that is rather than thinking a lot about it, I should name it (A cinematic Life!) and should write a nice screenplay on it.

Know us better!

We are to develop our cinema and you are to be helped in your film projects in Afghanistan!


Deed-e- now cinema is a registered production that is founded by the young Afghan Filmmakers and cinematic activists here in Kabul Afghanistan. We provide you consultancy and advice for your film projects in Afghanistan.

The goals we have to achieve are:

· Conducting researches about Cinema, especially The Afghan Cinema and filmmakers.
· Producing fiction and documentary films in Afghanistan and the region.
· Working for development of Cinema in Afghanistan.
· Working for development of women filmmakers in Afghanistan.
· Working for promoting the family movie going in Afghanistan.
· Playing the role of a bridge between Afghan Filmmakers and foreign filmmakers.

Products and services:

Writing and adapting scenarios (mostly Afghanistan related stories) including film story plots and full screenplays (mostly for festival based films)
Coordination of filmmaking equipments and filming locations for foreign film projects in Afghanistan.

Providing advice and consultancy for the foreign filmmakers who want to have film projects in Afghanistan.

Sketching story boards for films by professional designers and illustrators

Contact persons:
Mohammad .Amin Wahidi
Director of Deed-e-now Cinema (production) ® Kabul Afghanistan
Dari weblog: www.aminwahidi4u.blogfa.com
Email: aminwahidi@yahoo.com
È (0093) 70221352 - (0093) 777302005)

Contact us for your film projects in Afghanistan and support us for the promotion of Afghan Cinema.