Online Showcase
Frame by Frame
Afghanistan I 85 mins I 2015 I Dari, English w/ English subtitles
When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, taking a photo was a crime. After the regime fell from power in 2001, a fledgling free press emerged and a photography revolution was born. Now, as foreign troops and media withdraw, Afghanistan is left to stand on its own, and so are its journalists.
Set in a modern Afghanistan bursting with color and character, FRAME BY FRAME follows four Afghan photojournalists as they navigate an emerging and dangerous media landscape – reframing Afghanistan for the world, and for themselves.
Through cinema vérité, intimate interviews, powerful photojournalism, and never-before-seen archival footage shot in secret during the Taliban regime, the film connects audiences with four humans in the pursuit of the truth."
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+ This program is included in our AFGHANISTAN RETROSPECTIVE
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VIRTUAL, ON-DEMAND SCREENING
FRI. NOV 5 - 7, 2021
About the Artist(s)
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Mo Scarpelli is an Italian-American director and cinematographer of mostly-non-fiction cinema. Her films linger on the rupture of identity by exterior circumstances, and the cold violence inflicted on the individual by changing landscapes.
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Mo's films have been exhibited at the Berlinale, IDFA, Visions du Réel, Film Society of Lincoln Center, SXSW, Olafur Eliasson's Studios in Berlin and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, among other festivals and venues.
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Mo's first documentary FRAME BY FRAME, shot in Afghanistan, screened at SXSW Film Festival, Hot Docs, BFI London Film Festival, AFI DOCS and 120+ other festivals. The film garnered more than a dozen jury and audience awards and a Cinema Eye Honors nomination. It was acquired by TIME, Inc in 2016.
Alexandria Bombach is an award-winning cinematographer, editor and director from New Mexico. After co-directing FRAME BY FRAME, Alexandria continued her work in Afghanistan directing the Pulitzer Center-supported NYT Op-Doc, AFGHANISTAN BY CHOICE.
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Her recent documentary, ON HER SHOULDERS, follows Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi woman who survived genocide and slavery under ISIS. Nadia is thrust onto the world stage as the voice of her people - and must navigate bureaucracy, fame, and other's good intentions. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it won Best Directing in the US Doc. Competition.
Choosing to live nomadically since 2010, Alexandria is happiest when walking across the Outback with feral camels, swimming in a secret women’s swimming pool in Kabul, or spending hours riding in the bed of a truck with her camera in her lap.
Trailer
Credits
Writer/Director: ALEXANDRIA BOMBACH
MO SCARPELLI
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Exec. Producer(s): LAILA ROSSI
ALEXANDRA JOHNES
NANCY SCHAFER
LOUIS VENEZIA
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Producer(s): JEFF ORLOWSKI
CHANDRA JESSEE
DOUG BLUSH
TREVOR HALL
JEFF SEIBERT
WAYNE CHANG
STACEY PICULELL
BAKTASH AHADI
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Cinematographer(s): ALEXANDRIA BOMBACH MO SCARPELLI
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Cast
Featured Photo-Journalists:
WAKIL KOHSAR
FARZANA WAHIDY
NAJIBULLAH MUSAFER
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Crew Cont'd
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Editor: ALEXANDRIA BOMBACH
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Composer: PATRICK JONSSON
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Translator: ZIA MALIKY
BAKTASH AHADI
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