Over a three-year period, filmmaker Carol Dysinger followed the Afghan National Army for her documentary Camp Victory, Afghanistan. Bren Sritharan talks to her about staying neutral, Afghan press credentials and getting shot at...
What piqued your interest in Afghanistan?
I noticed that there were a lot of movies being made that were about war being bad for soldiers and were more combat-orientated. [The US Army] kept saying, “We have an exit strategy, we’ll stand up the Afghan National Army and then we’ll leave,” and I was like, “Is anyone keeping an eye on this, anybody looking?” I feel as an American I have a responsibility; somebody has to do the history of what’s on the ground, because if journalism is the first draft of history, it’s not going to be very credible I’m afraid – so I decided to go myself.
How did you manage to stay nonpartisan about a topic that is so politically and personally polarising?
I think reality is not a partisan thing. I wanted to make a movie that I could show to my countrymen and women, that would allow for conversation between the right and the left, for them to share a common conversation about it. That’s why I worked so hard to make it nonpartisan, so soldiers could watch it, people who supported the war and voted for Bush could watch it and not feel judged, and people on the left could watch it and feel like their feelings are confirmed, and that they could talk.
What was the editing process like?
I’ve been a documentary editor for 30 years, and I know with that material I could’ve made a film that would’ve knocked everybody’s socks off. But I just held to the goal of “I want to make this movie feel like it is when you’re here,” so the absurdity and the complexity and the weird bonds that form, the stupidity and the bravery – all of that stuff was in place.
I showed it to people who were like “it feels like it needs something more” and I was like, “bullets?” I could’ve thrown some in, I certainly got shot at enough, but that wasn’t the point.
My cuts were boring as hell for the longest time. But I think I found the balance between excitement and reality.
What was it like being a woman, going into this overwhelmingly masculine environment?
Well, I’m in the film business, so it wasn’t so unusual! I got very different kinds of interviews because there wasn’t a mano-a-mano air. Because I’m a professor and an academic and a woman of a certain age, I was a bit of a surprise to people I suppose, and I also went to the Afghan government to ask for permission, so I was sort of beloved by them because I carried Afghan press credentials.
What would you say to young filmmakers?
Don’t try to do it alone – I think the technology makes it too easy to do alone, and the only reason it’s fun is because you’re out there with people. Do research – the tendency is for someone to just walk in somewhere with a camera, and they don’t know what they’re looking at.
The days when an institution will take care of you and let you do what you want are over. You’ve got to make yourself, and that’s great; that’s how it was when I was young, with the punk scene, and MTV just starting. You had to get out there and do something that was new and fresh, and you guys have all these tools.
The old business is broken, so make a new one.
Camp Victory, Afghanistan is being released on DVD on the 25 July. To find out more, visit the official website.