Postcards from Tora Bora

An innovative and emotionally gripping documentary set in war-torn Afghanistan.

FPS - Tora Bora

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Co-directors Wazhmah Osman and Kelly Dolak discuss
their documentary Postcards from Tora Bora

This week The Fabulous Picture Show welcomes the co-directors of Postcards from Tora Bora, Wazhmah Osman and Kelly Dolak.

Postcards from Tora Bora is a feature length documentary that follows Osman when she returns home to Afghanistan to piece together the life that was torn apart by the 1979 Soviet invasion.

At the height of the Cold War, the Osman family frantically escaped from Afghanistan while leaving almost everything behind.

In the ensuing chaos, their suitcase filled with family photos is stolen.

Now, after two decades in America, Wazhmah Osman, a young Afghan-American woman, returns to her childhood home.

Armed only with rapidly fading memories, she recruits some unlikely and reluctant guides to put together the pieces of her past.

On an alternately sad and humorous quest, she encounters confused cabbies, the enthusiastic former minister of the tourism bureau, a museum director who archives land mines and a group of angry street vendors.

As Wazhmah desperately searches for any tangible evidence of her former life, the journey leads her to many unexpected places.

Amidst the rubble and destruction, she finds her estranged father, who in the aftermath of war chose his country over his family.

On the road, Wazhmah frequently finds herself at a strange intersection where cultures clash, identities are mistaken and the past violently collides with the present.

Co-directors Wazhmah Osman and Kelly Dolak join us to discuss their journey through a war-torn Afghanistan and Wazhmah’s voyage to reconcile the severed relationship with her father, and with a homeland that exists no more.

Mike Leigh

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Sally Hawkins plays a spirited school teacher
in Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky

Amanda Palmer talks to Mike Leigh about his new film, Happy-Go-Lucky, a vibrant comedy that offers a lighthearted slice of life seen through the eyes of a free-spirited London schoolteacher.

It is a completely new direction for one of Britain’s most celebrated filmmakers – one whose films are usually known for their gritty, dark portrayal of everyday life.

Leigh introduces us to two of his stars from the film, Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsden, who are quickly rising to become two of Britain’s hottest acting talents.

Manoel de Oliveira

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Portuguese Manoel de Oliveira is often cited
as the oldest active filmmaker in the world

Portugal’s all-time filmmaking maestro, Manoel de Oliveira, will turn 100 later this year, but he is far from retirement. 

He has made at least a film a year since 1990, working with such actors as John Malkovich, Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni.

And with a new film about the 15th century explorer Christopher Columbus and two other projects on the go, he has just surpassed Germany’s Leni Riefenstahl as the oldest active film director in history.

FPS travels to his home of Oporto to speak with Oliveira and his associates, and looks at his body of work and his unusual approach to film directing: no camera tricks, minimal editing and just an actor portraying a character.

Robert Greenwald

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Filmmaker and political activist
Robert Greenwald

He is renowned as one of the most daring documentarians of the past decade, taking on such giants as Wal-Mart, Fox News and the Bush administration’s pet military contractors, but many people might not know that Robert Greenwald was for years a proud employee of the Hollywood Fun Factory, churning out such crowd-pleasers as Xanadu, the vintage cheese musical starring Olivia Newton-John. 

But now Greenwald, who pioneered new distribution methods with his recent documentaries, hosting “Tupperware party” style screenings in local churches and town halls, is reinventing himself once again.

He is now at the forefront of politically conscious filmmakers creating short films and posting them online, funding his work with a voluntary “subscription” model.

We meet Greenwald at his LA production office and place his bold and exciting work in the context of this year’s deluge of online election-campaign videos.

Watch part one of this episode of The Fabulous Picture Show on Youtube

Watch part two of this episode of The Fabulous Picture Show on Youtube

This episode of The Fabulous Picture Show will be broadcast at the following times GMT:
 
Saturday 05 April 14:30; 22:30; Sunday 06 April 02:30; 12:30  Monday 07th April 00:30; Tuesday 08th April  13:30; Wednesday 09th April 11:30 19:30; Thursday 10th April 05:30; Friday 11th April 03:00; 10:30; 16:30; Saturday 12th April 06:30.


Click here for Amanda Palmer’s biography

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Source: Al Jazeera