Red Friday ~ Look into the eyes of the Enemy

(From CBC, emphasis mine)

Rolling tape on the Taliban


In a new documentary about the Taliban, there's a scene where one of them looks into the lens and stares at the camera, like it's an animal that needs killing.


There are several disturbing moments in the film by Norwegian journalist Paul Refsdal. It's called Taliban: Behind The Masks. And that's quite literally where he goes.

Refsdel shows the Taliban commander playing with his doomed children. An ambush of American troops. Taliban at play tossing rocks - about the only thing they're not running short of in their squalid mountain hideaway.

In total, the filmmaker spent 15 days with them, more than any other western journalist ever has, documenting how they live and fight. But he nearly paid with his life.

Hear the CBC interview HERE , partway down the page.
See the rough cut of the video HERE . (26 Minutes)

I found the scenes where the Taliban fighters are looking directly into the camera stayed with me for long after.  Most moving, in one scene where the look in the eyes of the fighter seems to be saddness and absolute hopelessness ... and the scene where another fighter looks into the camera with obvious insanity behind his eyes, which I think is the scene the author reefers to in the quote above.

An hour long special based on this film will be broadcast on CNN on December 11th.  I would like to get a copy of that broadcast (afterward), if anyone knows where I can get one please leave me a comment below.  Thanks.

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