Afgan (documentary)
Encyclopedia
Afghan: The Soviet Experience is a 1989 documentary film produced and directed by Jeff B. Harmon
about the Soviet war in Afghanistan
.
It tells the stories of officers and soldiers serving in various units of the Soviet Armed Forces just prior to their withdrawal from Afghanistan, after the signing of the Geneva Accords.
The 40 minute film includes combat missions with the Spetsnaz
elite units, never before filmed by a Western crew. It also shows helicopter gunship pilots from a Kabul
-based Air Assault Unit flying missions, the patrolling of the Salang
mountain pass and the military hospital in Kabul.
Soviet General Lev Serebrov referred to the making of the film as "An experiment in glasnost
".
The film won the Blue Ribbon at the American Film & Video Festival.
It was a Duce Films International Ltd. Production for Channel 4 (UK) and National Geographic Explorer.
The film is part of Harmon's "Afghan Trilogy", which also included the documentaries “Jihad” and “Warlord of Kayan
”.
Jeff B. Harmon
Jeff B. Harmon is an American film director, writer and producer. He is also an actor, photographer and song writer.As a journalist and war correspondent, he penetrated the Nazi underground in Paraguay while searching for Dr...
about the Soviet war in Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
.
It tells the stories of officers and soldiers serving in various units of the Soviet Armed Forces just prior to their withdrawal from Afghanistan, after the signing of the Geneva Accords.
The 40 minute film includes combat missions with the Spetsnaz
Spetsnaz
Spetsnaz, Specnaz tr: Voyska specialnogo naznacheniya; ) is an umbrella term for any special forces in Russian, literally "force of special purpose"...
elite units, never before filmed by a Western crew. It also shows helicopter gunship pilots from a Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
-based Air Assault Unit flying missions, the patrolling of the Salang
Kotal-e Salang
The Salang Pass is the major mountain pass connecting northern Afghanistan and Kabul province, with further connections to southern Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is just to the east of the Kushan Pass, and both of them were of great importance in early times as they provided the most direct...
mountain pass and the military hospital in Kabul.
Soviet General Lev Serebrov referred to the making of the film as "An experiment in glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
".
The film won the Blue Ribbon at the American Film & Video Festival.
It was a Duce Films International Ltd. Production for Channel 4 (UK) and National Geographic Explorer.
The film is part of Harmon's "Afghan Trilogy", which also included the documentaries “Jihad” and “Warlord of Kayan
Warlord of Kayan
Warlord of Kayan is a 1989 documentary film produced and directed by Jeff B. Harmon.The film tells the story of Sayed Jafar Naderi, the son of an Afghan Ismaili leader, who used to be a member of a hippie motorcycle gang in Allentown, Pennsylvania and later became a provincial governor and chief of...
”.