Before drones filmed war, two French journalists smuggled themselves into a valley that refused to die.
When the Soviet troops entered Afghanistan in December 1979, Christophe de Ponfilly and Jérôme Bony made their first clandestine reportage in the Panjshir valley. "A valley against an empire" testifies to the beginning of the struggle of a young commander, Amah Shah Massoud.
Cinematography
16mm grain capturing moonlit mountain crossings.
Direction
De Ponfilly's invisible hand lets Massoud's charisma explode.
Director
Christophe de Ponfilly
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
De Ponfilly returned to Afghanistan multiple times; he died by suicide in 2006, haunted by the region's endless wars.
Massoud became 'The Lion of Panjshir' to the West, yet this film captures him before the myth—just a young man in borrowed Soviet binoculars.
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