Erika Stevenson - Filming in Afghanistan

Erika studied at The Royal College of Art and specialised in Filming and Cinema-photography.  She obtained a “Union Ticket” and worked freelance, producing 16 mm films for the BBC and other television companies.  These included a wide range of documentaries, which included interviews with Film Stars and a couple of Prime Ministers.

Her reputation was such that in 1987, she was approached by a Dutch company, who excited her interest in filming a project which they were organising in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.  She was only 38, at the time, and it seemed like a project which she could not afford to miss (the pay promised to be most beneficial !).  It was clearly not going to be an easy lifestyle, for 5 months, in that very difficult part of the world.

Afghanistan has a population of 35 million people from many ethnic minorities, with many different languages.  There have been numerous wars for 100s of years and 1000s of deaths, with the Taliban and Islamic State having great influence for many decades.  Afghanistan has been nicknamed “The Graveyard of Empires”!

All the equipment, clothes, and dried food was transported from Amsterdam to Pakistan, where the very long journey started to the north of Afghanistan, but they did have the help of 9 horses.  Much of the walking, over mountains, had to be in the dark as they were not able to use lights or torches as attacking Russian Troops were never far away. The highest mountain they had to cross was about 16,400 feet, which meant that shortage of oxygen became a problem and, of course, there were no doctors or medication available.  Any communication with locals was always going to be difficult as bribery and corruption was rife.

Eventually, when living in the primitive village, where the filming was to take place, life was not at all easy as there were no toilets, lights, or running water.  There was much dirt and fleas and Erika decided that it would be best to sleep on the floor.  She had also decided that she could no longer exist as a “Veggie” because, although there were limited amounts of local peaches and nuts available, she needed to eat “rock cheese” and goats.

They filmed a harvest and activities at the local school, which had only boys as girls are not allowed (and, anyway, they get married at 11 years old). She did also film a wedding but pointed out that a considerable amount of time had to be spent cleaning the “flying dust” out of the camera.  There was also a funeral of a woman, with no men present as men are not allowed to see the dead body of a woman. Erika also witnessed a man, with a dental problem, being held against a tree whilst another man, with a pair of pliers, removed the painful tooth.

In due course, it became time to leave the village before an anticipated heavy snowfall blocked the path over the mountain. They had to load the horses and set off for the mountainous walk in the dark. (No torches as there was still a danger from Russian Forces!).  At some stage, their horses were stolen but 3 days later were recovered after paying the appropriate bribe. Eventually, when mechanised transport became available, the horses had to  be sold (at a loss, of course).

Apparently, “The Film” was eventually shown on Dutch TV but not in the UK.
Erika moved on to many other projects and she is currently in the process of  writing a book on her Afghan experiences, so this brief summery will have to suffice until she advises us of completion.

TONY JENKINSON