A screening of a documentary about a young Afghan boy turned into a heated debate yesterday as the film’s director discussed the invasion of Afghanistan.
Director Sonia Cole said she filmed her documentary, The Bread Winner, in order to show a day in the life of an Afghan child she met while working for the Afghanistan World Foundation, a humanitarian agency she founded in 1979.
“My objective was to show people who only listen to news, that only see suicide bombings, to see what it’s like to be an Afghan kid and a normal Afghan family,” Cole said.
Cole followed the nine year old boy, Foukal, who serves as the provider for his family by selling newspapers and calendars.
During the question and answer session following the documentary, Cole emphasized that Americans are very welcome in Afghanistan, saying that the United States did not invade, but was instead invited to come.
Cole’s comment sparked a debate about whether “invasion” is the proper term for the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. Members of the audience described the U.S. presence as an occupation. Cole and AWF Director Marco Vicenzino argued that while the Taliban government was opposed to the U.S. troop presence in the country, the Afghan citizens were opposed to the Taliban government and welcomed the U.S.
“If your argument is saying that the standing government at that time didn’t welcome them in, then yes, you’re right,” Vicenzino said. “But the point she’s making is that the ordinary Afghans welcome the troops coming in and welcome the international presence.”
Professor of Political Islam Noureddine Jebnoun said that he had never heard a viewpoint like Cole’s.
“This is the first time I heard this kind of perception,” he said. “It’s a unique viewpoint.”
Cole was surprised at how political the discussion became.
“I’m glad it did,” Cole said. “I hope I cleared something. Anytime that you talk about a subject matter that people aren’t clear about and both sides come up … The person will get a idea of what’s really going on.”
