by Julian Wood
Ben Gilmour is one committed guy. Not only has he had a previous incarnation as a first responder and paramedic, he has also made ground-breaking anti-war films about some of the most troubled countries around. In 2007, he made the acclaimed dramatic feature Son of a Lion, in 2012 the observational documentary Paramedico, and now his latest film Jirga has been doing the rounds of the festival circuit, including winning the $100k CinefestOZ Film Prize, and is now set for a cinema release.
Jirga was made covertly in Afghanistan, and is about an Australian soldier returning to the land where he killed a man, seeking forgiveness. It’s a far cry from the limelight of the Toronto International Film Festival, which is where Gilmour was about to head when we spoke to him on the phone.
“Yes, it is totally bizarre, one minute you are walking the dusty hills in a foreign land and the next you are walking along a red carpet. I just wish I could take all the Afghans with me.”
We started by asking Gilmour to recall the very special screening at the Sydney Film Festival in the State Theatre back in June of this year where the film (which was one of twelve in competition) received a standing ovation.
“Yes, it was unforgettable the feeling in the room. For me it is all about getting as many people as possible to see the film and hopefully to be moved by it. In fact, on that occasion I remember that lady who stood up in the Q&A and said ‘that is the most healing war film that I have ever seen’. I was so happy when she said that because then I began to hope that we had done what we wanted and made a film that is really going to touch people.”
This is exactly why he made the film and it links to his whole stance on war and colonial adventurism in that region. As Gilmour explains.
“I am a pragmatic pacifist, and I know John [Maynard, producer] is too. Part of what drove me to want to make the film is that this war has been dragging on for 17 years. I mean it was different in the first three years, but pretty soon the Afghans realised this wasn’t an invasion, it was an occupation and it has been going downhill ever since. And it has caused so much pain not just for ordinary Afghans but also for soldiers who are put in the position of fighting in that context.”
As with so many apparently simple plans, the reality is far from simple once it bumps into unintended consequences. Poor old Afghanistan has suffered decades of external interference and, thanks to the un-superseded cold war, it is the playing field for proxy wars.
“You learn so much on the ground. I was told by Afghans, ‘look out the Russians are back’, but this time they are funding the Mujahedeen that they originally opposed in order to combat America. It was kind of payback for what the US did in the ‘90s and the Russians would love to see America fail there. Afghans of all different religious groups told me the same story. And even now the Taliban is funded by overseas powers like Pakistan and Iran. Everyone wants a piece of the pie there and the locals are the ones suffering. I had a very simplified view of it when I first went in but now I know it is not at all simple. Frankly, I would love for the press in the West to focus on the Afghans’ view of the war, which we don’t get enough.”
Of course, filmmakers are not completely innocent in all this. The ‘story’ we are told of the war is a Western one. Gilmour is well aware of that angle. In that light, he offers a more political reading of some recent attempts.
“Yes, they [the West] do that through Hollywood war films. Even ones where you think, ‘ok they are showing the effect of war on a soldier’; in the case of American Sniper for instance. But then you think that although [Clint] Eastwood’s motives may have been good – the film took ridiculous numbers at the box office – and it also possible that some audiences just love to see Muslims being shot by a white guy. There is so much racism smuggled in to those sorts of depictions [of foreign ‘baddies’].”
War films also reinforce a certain view of masculinity of course, and again Gilmour has thoughts about that angle.
“I can’t stand that view of men, that particular construction of male courage. I wanted to get away from that. I am much more impressed by men showing intelligence and by their softness and compassion. They have to have moral courage too. There is so much talk at the moment about toxic male culture and yet the films that are made by and about men, more often than not, just feed that.”
Given the understandable attention to the danger of the shoot and the courage and resourcefulness required to get something in the can and get out, is it possible that the meta-story could overtake the interest in the film itself? Gilmour is well aware of that.
“I was saying to friend the other day, I am a bit frustrated by being asked to tell that story [of the making of] all the time because I don’t want it just to be about me and Sam [Sam Smith, the lead actor]. Instead, I want the conversation to be about war, forgiveness, mercy, and about Islamophobia and the barriers that we need to break down. I hope that people are intrigued enough to go and buy a ticket and submit to it on its own terms. I am a bit over talking about that aspect. I sometimes wish that we could talk about the film instead.”
But also, although the backstory is interesting, the film is a work of art, and art has to stand on its own two feet. Gilmour couldn’t agree more.
Jirga is in cinemas from September 27, 2018
Read our interview with Sam Smith
Jirga is ClubInk September Movie of the Month.
