Assembled from 300 hours of footage shot in Afghanistan over three years, this remarkable documentary follows several US National Guardsmen, the Afghan officers they worked with, and the new Afghan battalion to be trained. Their stories – of frustrations and friendship across cultural, political and social barriers, and of huge challenges in training impoverished, illiterate soldiers – reveal the realities of building an effective Afghan military in a volatile, war-torn country.
Post-film discussion: filmmaker Carol Dysinger.
“The film crackles with the emotional energy and intelligence of its subjects.” – Jim Dwyer, The New York Times
“Excellent and thought-provoking. . . . A clear-eyed look at an irretrievably messy situation.” – Variety
“Dysinger liberates the compromised term ‘embedded journalism’ and uses her incredible access to depict a war of inertia and ancient feuds.” – Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle
If you watch only one film on Afghanistan, make it “Camp Victory, Afghanistan.” – Huffington Post
The post-film discussion with Carol Dysinger has been funded in part by the Experimental Television Center’s Presentation Funds program, which is sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts.
