Using almost 300 hours of footage shot over the course of five years, filmmaker Carol Dysinger's critically acclaimed documentary Camp Victory, Afghanistan tells the story of the new Afghan National Army (ANA) and the U.S. National Guardsmen sent to mentor them.
Using almost 300 hours of footage shot over the course of five years, filmmaker Carol Dysinger's critically acclaimed documentary Camp Victory, Afghanistan tells the story of the new Afghan National Army (ANA) and the U.S. National Guardsmen sent to mentor them. The first film to examine the on-the-ground training of the ANA— the critical step towards bringing stability to Afghanistan and the linchpin of U.S. exit strategy—the film will be screened at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts for one night only on Dec. 7 at 7:00 p.m.
The story follows General Fazaludin Sayar of the ANA and Colonel R. Michael Shute, U.S. Army, who work together toward a common goal: the creation of a professional Afghan army from a group of unmotivated and illiterate enlistees. In the process, a profound friendship develops between these two men who come from opposite sides of the world.
A conversation about the film and the intersection of art and documentary will take place immediately following the screening. Participants are: director Carol Dysinger, associate professor in the Graduate Film division of NYU’s Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts as well as a Fellow at the Center on Law and Security at the NYU Law School; photojournalist and author Ed Grazda who has been documenting Afghanistan and Pakistan since 1980; Nicolas Kent, artistic director of the Tricycle Theatre and the three-part theatrical event The Great Game: Afghanistan presented at the Skirball Center by The Public Theater December 1-19.
Camp Victory Afghanistan will be released digitally by New Video in 2011.
The screening runs 85 minutes. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased online at www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu, by phone at 212.352.3101 (toll-free 866.811.4111), or in person at the Skirball Center Box Office. NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is located at 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square). For a complete calendar of events, visit www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu.