The film is the story of Muzafar Ali, an internationally renowned Afghani photographer who arrived in Australia as a refugee. When Muzafar discovers that Afghans have been an integral part of Australia for over 160 years, he begins to photograph their descendants in a search to define his own new Afghan-Australian identity. Then the Taliban take over Afghanistan and his old country comes calling.
Watandar: My Countryman had its world premiere at the 2022 Adelaide Film Festival.
Jolyon Hoff says: “The Afghan cameleer descendants featured in Watandar, My Countryman are Indigenous, colonial and immigrants at the same time. When Muzafar decided to photograph them, we started filming. His experience as a former Afghan-Hazara refugee, along with his wisdom and charisma, presented a rare opportunity to re-examine Australia’s colonial history.
“The film touches on some of Australia and the world’s biggest geopolitical stories including the relationship between colonial, ancient and immigrant Australians, our treatment of refugees, the division between the world’s dominant religions, the success and or lack of success of the international forces in Afghanistan, and the power of individuals to create change.”
Jolyon and Muzafar will attend screenings around the country, commencing in Melbourne on May 30 and then travelling through Brisbane and southern Queensland in early June, Sydney, Canberra and regional New South Wales in mid-late June, followed by South Australia in July (with WA and Tasmania to follow).
Muzafar Ali is a Hazara artist from Afghanistan who grew up in Pakistan as a refugee. In 2004, when he was 17, he returned to Afghanistan to work with the United Nations disarmament program. This work took him across the country and he extensively photographed the regions, providing an insight into rarely documented areas. He donated his photographs to promote education, women’s rights, social justice, and strengthening democratic institutions and was the first Afghan photographer exhibited by the United Nations in Afghanistan. His solo and joint exhibitions have been held in Afghanistan, the Republic of Korea, USA, UK, Canada, the Netherlands and Australia. He is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts at the University of South Australia and works as a Social Support Worker for refugees in Indonesia.
Production credit: Watandar, My Countryman is a Light Sound Art Film production. Principal production funding from Screen Australia in association with Elements Post Production. Financed with support from the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund and the South Australian Film Corporation. Produced with the assistance of Documentary Australia and Mind The Gap Film Finance. Local distribution by Antidote Films. Developed with assistance from Screen Australia.
Producers are Jolyon Hoff, Hamis Gibbs Ludbrook and Muzafar Ali. The film was written by Jolyon Hoff and Muzafar Ali. Editor was Hamish Gibbs Ludbrook. Gabriel Joosten was Executive Producer and Post Producer. Katrina Penning was Cinematographer.
