Ariana
Super 16mm Colour and Sound
18’36’’
2003
Ariana tells the story of a film crew that sets out to visit the Panjshir Valley in Northern Afghanistan. Described in classic Persian poetry as a paradise garden, the impenetrable nature of the valley and its lush, fertile landscape have set it apart from the rest of the country and encouraged a history of independence and resistance. As the crew is unable to film the valley from a vantage point in the surrounding Hindu Kush mountains, the film becomes the story of the failure of this project which prompts a reflection on the panorama as a form of military strategic overview, a camera movement, and on its origins as a pre-cinematic form of entertainment.
—Location: Panjshir Valley and Kabul, Afghanistan, August
and October 2002
Camera: ARRI SR3
Lenses: Zeiss 25 mm and 50 mm primes
Stocks: 7231/Eastman Plus-X and 7222/Double X Kodak
Director of photography: Tom Townend
Sound: Aurélien Bras
Editing: Ida Bregninge
Processing: Éclair, Joinville-le-Pont
Grading: One Post, London
Executive producer: Julie Gonssard
Post-production: Frontline Television, London