SXSW Film
Daily reviews and interviews
By Richard Whittaker, Fri., March 19, 2010
Camp Victory, Afghanistan
Documentary Feature, Documentary CompetitionD: Carol Dysinger
The people of Afghanistan, who have endured millennia of invasions, have a saying: "You have the clocks; we have the time." These words open up this depiction of three years in the forgotten war from a group whose voice is seldom heard – the Afghan National Army. Dysinger liberates the compromised term "embedded journalism" and uses her incredible access to depict a war of inertia and ancient feuds. As foreign forces come and go, the only constant is the haunting central figure of Gen. Fazil Ahmad Sayar. A veteran of 30 years of a rolling, roiling civil war, he becomes a reserved guide to the complexities of a shattered nation, where the lines between military, warlord, and Taliban are so blurred as to have no meaning. Yet behind his taciturn manner and hang-dog expression is a man whose dedication to bringing peace to his country may very well redefine the word "patriot" forever.
Friday, March 19, 11:30am, Lamar 3
