The aesthetics of light in Afghan Cinema

Introduction

What changes can the study of beauty and aesthetics in the universe make? This is the first question that arises in the discussion of aesthetics If one wants to reach the category of aesthetics and aesthetic vision or wants to study it, it is necessary to understand the principle and basis of aesthetics and to understand the concept of aesthetics and what aesthetics is rooted in and where it started. Definitely someone who deals with aesthetics Must have knowledge of the philosophy and views of world philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle Otherwise it may not be able to grasp the essence of the concept of aesthetics.

This does not mean that we have to give a general concept of aesthetics, because it is very difficult to present a general meaning and concept of aesthetics. The task of aesthetics is not to provide a definition and meaning of a work, but its task is to describe the various dimensions of a work of art. In principle, this is not focused on the work of art, but aesthetics can exist in any work, but with its own criteria and structure. This structure and criterion generally determine the shape and form of the work.

The aesthetic criteria and structure used in architecture may not be used in a particular painting or the elements used in a sculpture are not theatrical. Therefore, great care must be taken in the discussion of aesthetics Because as much as aesthetics help to understand a work of art, it can mislead the audience. The result is much more destructive than we imagined.

One of the main topics in the field of aesthetics, the study of that work is based on the criteria and cultural and traditional principles of the producer and the community in which the work was produced as well as the community in which the artwork is presented. When these 3 categories are considered in that case, it can be said that perhaps a relatively good analysis of that work of art is presented to the intended audience. But if it is not, the dimensions hidden inside the work of art will not flourish for the audience as a result, the concept of the message within the work will not be conveyed to the audience. This can greatly damage a work of art

Aesthetics

To address the issue of aesthetics, we must compare it with something equal to itself, and that is nothing but ugliness. As when I say good, it is the opposite of the word bad. When we say light, it is darkness. When we say day, it is the opposite of night. So, when we say beauty, it is ugly. Because if there is nothing against beauty So it is not possible to determine its value and limit and size for it.

In the first step, we must consider the meaning of beauty and ugliness. In the general sense, we can say that beauty is what man enjoys seeing and wants to see and seeing it, you reach an inner feeling and peace. Ugliness means something that bothers the viewer. He does not want to see it and he is upset to see it. It is in this state that a scientific standard of ugliness and beauty can be reached.

When these two categories are placed next to each other, something called beauty is created Which is essentially a representation of what is in question with the formation of beauty, the most important thing is to step into the arena and express oneself and make both dependent on oneself, and that is logic. Of course, we should not forget that the meaning of logic here, Logic is about that effect, not just any logic. Because if there is no logic, the fact that things are together does not even make sense, let alone present a concept to its audience. Once we have been able to come up with a logic for our message and discuss those objects with the logic we want, something called the science of ethics emerges and overshadows all the categories of our thinking.

This is why we say that there is logic and ethics in the discussion of aesthetics Without logic and ethics, the foundation of communication is in trouble. Because it is logic that makes the placement of objects next to each other acceptable to the intended audience and morality makes it acceptable to him. If one of these categories is not placed properly, the artist cannot convey the message of his artwork. Of course, it should not be forgotten that accepting or rejecting a work of art is a reciprocal relationship. On behalf of the presenting artist and the receiving audience. Maybe anyone can be the audience for a work of art but it cannot easily receive the message of the work of art Because receiving the message of the work of art goes back to the teachings of the audience. If the audience has poor artistic and aesthetic teachings It certainly cannot easily receive the message of the work of art. If he is focused on one of these teachings, he will still not be able to receive the entire message accurately. Therefore, the audience should be able to analyze and interpret the relevant work of art and extract the hidden message within the work by considering the center of their teachings and exposing the work of art to the science of logic and aesthetics.

This action is realized if a person has the ability to transfer human logic and emotional emotions and how to transfer these states from the work of art to the person himself. It is in this state that the aesthetic dimension emerges and manifests itself. Because the human subconscious mind begins to function and takes the initiative to create beauty and a sense of love for something. This feeling is not really something we have reached now or a few moments ago It has been with us since birth and lies within every human being, only the time and type of its occurrence is different for different people. That is exactly the time to react to beauty and ugliness.

In general, aesthetics as a science was born and expressed about 2 centuries ago. He was able to easily open his place in art and make an impact on art and artists Then the artist will consider another path and approach in his artwork. This approach does not essentially address what the audience is watching, but seeks to respond to and understand the audience’s work of art. Thus, the philosophy of aesthetics sought to value the understanding of a work of art. This philosophical approach provided a conceptual interpretation beyond its principle. We can say that this is very closely related to the essence of the concept of aesthetics. This approach also opens the field for critics. Sayyad Amir Mansouri says in his article entitled “From Beauty to Aesthetics”: “Art criticism in all disciplines, although it must go before aesthetic analysis before any other criteria, it has less of this character. Thematic analysis, political and sociological critiques, and then the discovery of the influence of the works of other artists, attract the most attention of critics. Art criticism, on the other hand, must first and foremost be concerned with the aesthetic evaluation of the work and other dimensions of art should be interpreted in the light of it “(Mansouri, 2017).

According to Mansouri, both in the analysis and in the critique section, we are faced with two internal and external aspects of a work. According to him, when a work is to be criticized and interpreted, we cannot deal with one dimension of it, but we have to consider all its conceptual dimensions, but in the form of aesthetic philosophy. Because if something is different from this, we will undoubtedly have a problem in a part of the meaning and concept of that work of art or we fail to convey the true inner meaning of the work of art to the audience. It is in this state that we have failed or failed to present its aesthetic meaning. Such an event can cause great and irreparable damage to a work of art.

The art of cinema

Humans have sought to progress since the creation of mankind. This progress and aspiration for superiority caused human beings to invent and invent new things every day. One of the inventions that can be said to change the life of humanity was photography. “The invention of photography by Louis Daguerre in 1839 suggested that the camera could do more than take a series of separate but related photographs. What happens if one or more cameras can shoot at such a speed that their consecutive displays show real movement? The first attempt to answer this question was made in 1872: California Gov. Leland Stanford wanted to prove that a horse knocks on all fours at the same time. “For this purpose, he hired San Francisco photographer Eduard Moy Bridge to take a series of photos of a horse attacking.” But these photos were not good at all for what they wanted to do. (Lucan, 11, 1983)

“Five years later, the bridge was built with the help of a young engineer from twenty-four cameras powered by a current. And at the same time, the horse was photographed passing in front of them, using the cameras to see something that the eye could not see. Muybridge Register the method and device of photographing moving objects in your name. In 1882, a Frenchman named Etienne Jules Marey invented a photographic gun for photographing flying birds. In 1889 W.k. Dickson, who for Thomas A. Edison worked, He succeeded in inventing a way to rotate the film in the camera. The camcorder seems to have been invented simultaneously in 1889 in France by Marie and in England by W Friese Greene. The year 1895 saw a dramatic improvement in image display. The Lumière brothers staged a screening of a movie underground in Paris on the Boulevard Ducaposin on December 28.” (Lucan, 12, 13, 1983).

In the development of a science and technology, one person can never be successful alone, but a group of innovators will advance it. “Among the early filmmakers were those who, because of their role in introducing the moving image as a means of storytelling, they opened an important place in the history of filming. Georges Melies in France, Edwin. S. Porter in the United States, Cecil. M. Hepworth and Robert W. Paul were creative filmmakers in the United Kingdom In the first decade of the emergence of motion picture, they discovered the expressive possibilities of the video camera and the theatrical capability of film editing. These innovators contributed to the new development and emergence of a unique storytelling style.” (Beaver, 59, 1988).

These efforts to turn still images into moving images evolved day by day, and the Lumière brothers were able to form a film crew. And send them to different places to film for them. In the early days, the images that were taken were completely natural and there was no change in the scene, especially in the lighting, because they did not know much about lighting until then. Although they used light, they used more natural light and sometimes artificial light.

Our discussion in this article is the use of light, so in the first step we need to know light and its types. In general, light is divided into two categories: natural light and artificial light. Natural light is the same as sunlight. It can be found wherever it is exposed to sunlight during the day. And used it as he pleased. But the other type is artificial light, it is essentially light that is created by us in an unnatural way. This light can be made by anything. But the type and structure of lighting is divided into two categories: new hard and soft light. The way to recognize soft and hard light is not so difficult, anyone can easily identify it. Just look at the shadows to recognize them. In harsh lighting there is a contrast between the shadows and the brightness. The line between the shadows and the light is quite visible.

Hard lighting is a high-contrast lighting. This type of lighting has a dramatic load and greatly contributes to the sense of the scene. Hard lighting is not specific to a particular place or state, but can be used to evoke a sense of audience or focus on a specific subject. Of course, it should not be forgotten that hard light can damage the work if not used properly Because as much as it contributes to the beauty of the image, it can also help to cause damage Like when in a portrait image of a character when high contrast light is used, the line between light shadows can easily highlight the flaws of the character’s face. And it may damage the image or it may turn black when the lighting around the character’s eyes is not pleasant for the audience or it may change the meaning of the scene.

Soft light is completely different from hard light. Soft light edges are not like hard light, Dark and light places slowly increase and decrease to dissolve into each other. In soft light, the audience can easily see all parts and decide among them what to choose to see. If in hard light this is not allowed to the audience. In soft lighting the scene is less dramatic and as a result the scene is less active. The result is that in hard lighting, both the lighting and the staging will be more difficult.

The question that arises here is what makes a light hard or soft? There are three basic points that make light hard and soft:

1. The size of the source from which light is projected onto the subject. The larger the source from which we shine light on the subject, the softer the light becomes, and the smaller the light source, the harder the light becomes.
2. The distance between the light source and the subject. The farther the light source is from the subject, the harder the shot becomes, and the closer we get to the distance, the softer the light becomes.
3. The intensity and amount of light that shines on a subject. The higher the intensity of the light shining on the subject, the harder the light becomes, and the lower the intensity, the softer the light becomes.

These 3 parts are the most important aspects of hard and soft light shaping. The type of light used in a scene depends on the story and the type of action defined in the story. It is also partly related to the mentality of the owner of the work. A large part of the impact on the image of cinema is related to light and the form of lighting. Lighting in cinema is more than shining light on an object in essence, light in cinema conveys aesthetic concepts and creates an inner transformation in various parts of psychology, such as fear or hope. Light gives shape, form and meaning to objects inside the scene by creating a light and dark space.

In many films, the lighting method helps the filmmaker to express the concept and feeling. Soft films cannot be used in films that are somewhat violent. In such a case, you have to use harsh, high-contrast lighting to induce fear and violence. Examples of high-contrast films from the 1950s can be found.

Many artists use signs to express their mentality, and the light reveals these signs. When we discuss aesthetics, we cannot ignore signs and light because semiotics itself is an important part of aesthetics.” For two reasons, semiotics is a vital field of study for film aesthetics. First, any critique necessarily relies on knowing the meaning of a text and the ability to read it If we do not understand the rule and method of expression that allows a meaning to exist in cinema, we are condemned for the major carelessness and ambiguity in the field of film criticism. Secondly, it is becoming more and more obvious That any definition of art should be presented as part of a semiotic perspective” (Woolen, 16,17, 2010).

According to Woolen, we cannot simply lock the light in the cinema because the light itself can be part of the signs. Just as Indians use smoke and fire as a sign to send a message to others. Therefore, the type of lighting used in a movie scene can be a sign and have a semantic burden for the audience. Which the filmmaker has used as a tool to send his message.

Afghan Cinema

After the emergence of cinema in the West, he was fascinated by the visit of Aman Ullah Khan, the then king of Afghanistan to Europe, seeing the cinematograph of the Lumière brothers. And he realized the effect of cinema on people. He realized that it is possible to send a message to people through cinema and images and influence them. When he returned, he brought a projector with him to Afghanistan, and this was the beginning of the arrival of cinema in Afghanistan. The first film was shown to the public by order of Aman Ullah Khan in the Paghman Public Garden, a recreational area in the foothills of western Kabul. And then ordered the construction of a number of cinemas in Kabul. Behzad Cinema was the first cinema in Afghanistan to be built in the center of Kabul.

With the fall of Aman Ullah Khan’s government, cinema in Afghanistan was shut down. After many years, a film called “Love and Friendship” directed by Rashid Latifi was made in collaboration with India. Several films were subsequently produced. In 1968, the Afghan Film Institute was established in Kabul, the main production of which was government news programs, as well as a number of documentaries. The heyday of Afghan cinema can be traced back to the 80s Because during this period, the Afghan government used cinema as a tool for propaganda. It was in the 80s that color film production began in Afghanistan and the first color films called “Love Epic”, “Escape”, “Patient Soldier” and several other films were made at the end of this decade.

Many artists and filmmakers left the country during the Afghan civil war and they emigrated to other countries, which reduced film production in Afghanistan to a minimum. This situation changed completely during the Taliban regime and the cinema was completely stopped. Many cinemas were destroyed and even many Afghan film archives were burnt down by the Taliban. Afghan cinema revived after the Taliban rule. The first films made in Afghanistan during this period “Journey to Kandahar” by Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and “Osama” by Siddiq Barmak, who represented Afghanistan at international festivals After that, other directors in Afghanistan started producing films, such as Atiq Rahimi, who made the films “Ash and Soil” and “Patient Stone”. As well as the films “Cable Baby” and “Wajmah” produced by Barmak Akram and participating in international festivals. In recent years, young filmmakers such as Kaveh Irik, Masoud Eslami and Jamshid Mahmoudi, as well as female filmmakers such as Shahrbanoo Sadat and Roya Sadat and other post-revolutionary filmmakers, have entered the Afghan cinema scene. Along with Afghan filmmakers, people from other countries came to Afghanistan and produced films. Samira Makhmalbaf, Marzieh Meshkini, Mark Foster and Vahid Mousaian are filmmakers who have made films in Afghanistan.

In addition to these filmmakers, there are other people who were mostly looking for ordinary films in the cinema. They produced films that were more suitable for the ordinary people of Afghanistan. These films were never screened at international festivals because they did not have the minimum cinematic rules and structures. These films are explained in the form of hand-held CDs in the local markets of Afghanistan among their fans. Since there is no control in these markets, the filmmaker generally does not get the money to sell these films. Therefore, the filmmaker has to use fewer features in his next film, which reduces the quality of the film. This causes the quality of those films to decrease day by day and they can never get a special place for themselves.

Afghan filmmakers

As mentioned earlier, some Afghan filmmakers have an academic background and some have studied cinema experimentally. For a better understanding, we will try to study some of the director’s biography before examining the light in a film. There are very few educated cinematographers in Afghanistan and the reason is very clear. Decades of war have left people behind in many ways. Cinema was one of those things. Because there was no place to study cinema inside Afghanistan and immigrants in other countries were either looking for work and life or if they were studying, they were looking for non-artistic fields. There were few people who were very interested in cinema and went to university to study cinema during their migration.

Generally, the period of filmmaking and film production in Afghanistan is divided into two completely separate periods, one period before the revolution and the civil war in Afghanistan and the other period after the revolution and the civil war. In the pre-revolutionary period, no film was made that had significant lighting. Of course, one cannot expect more from the filmmakers of that time, because at that time there were no facilities and no filmmakers had knowledge and education. Therefore, it is natural that the films of that time did not have good and significant lighting. But in the post-war period and the presence of foreign countries in Afghanistan and the assistance of countries around the world, it is expected that significant films in terms of structure and technique have been produced in this country. Nevertheless, no admirable films were produced in Afghanistan, except for a few films that were able to show themselves in international festivals.

Atiq Rahimi

Atiq Rahimi, who was born in Afghanistan in 1962, left Afghanistan in 1984 due to the outbreak of war and sought refuge in France. There he has established himself as a writer, filmmaker and documentary filmmaker. He directed an adaptation of his novel “Dust and Ashes” Which was released in 2005 and was very well received. He is also making his second film based on a novel of his own, the novel “The Patient Stone”, which won the prestigious French literary award, the Goncourt Prize. The screenplay was written in collaboration with Jean-Claude Carrier and was released in 2201. Rahimi has directed several documentaries, including (a) Afghanistan (2002). He has published a book of his photographs of Afghanistan in France. Rahimi made the film “Lady of the Nile” in 2020. She currently lives in Paris.

Atiq Rahimi made his first film, “Soil and Ashes”, in 2004 based on one of his own novels, which tells the life story of a rural old man named Dastgir Khan. He and his young grandson, Yasin, a deaf child, wait for a car on Hairatan Road in northern Afghanistan, near the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, to take him and his grandson to the coal mine with their son. She is thinking about how to tell her son what happened to her family. The film has a slow rhythm. Most of the scenes in the film were shot in foreign locations. There are few interior scenes in the film. Therefore, it can be said that it did not have much lighting. Attempts have been made to use natural light in many scenes. But scenes like the night when the village burns in the fire, the lights are in a state of turmoil and red lights are used next to the flames. High-contrast lighting is used in fire scenes, which of course should be the case so that the filmmaker can use the darkness of the night in parts that are far from the fire scene. In many places in the film, the light is relatively uniform in the scenes. In the scenes that are tense, we see that the filmmaker has used high contrast light in those scenes. In this film, Atiq Rahimi has been able to approach the inner sense of the scenes of his film well and direct it, and convey that feeling to his audience with the help of light.

Rahimi has used light in most of his visual purposes in “Patient Stone”. He is a storyteller and novelist who knows exactly how to use the psychology of light. But this Atiq Rahimi film, like his previous film, has a uniform light in the scene and no special lighting is seen in the image. Rahimi tries more to observe realism in his film and to promote the film with his story and characters. In these two films, he does not try to illuminate the stage in a special way in order to bring the audience to a state of dreaming and imagination with it, because if he did, he might get out of that realistic state of the film.

In “Lady of the Nile”, Rahimi goes a little further and tries to work with light and dramatize the scenes of his film with light. The type of staging in this film is the same as the previous two films of Mr. Rahimi. The type of look and narration of the story is not much different. But this film is much stronger than Mr. Rahimi’s previous two films. The staging is very precise and the lighting is intended with a predetermined purpose. Rahimi has used good lighting to achieve her narrative goals in “Lady of the Nile”.

Siddiq Barmak

Siddiq Barmak was born on September 7, 1962 in the Panjshir province of Afghanistan. After finishing high school, Barmak went to the former Soviet Union to continue his education and received a master’s degree in filmmaking from Moscow University. In the pre-Taliban era, he was the director of Afghan Film. After the fall of the Taliban, Siddiq Barmak made his first feature film, Osama. Which brought him many awards and Afghan cinema. In 2008, he made the film “Opium War”. He was the founder of the Afghan Cinematographers’ Union and launched the first specialized film magazine in Afghanistan He has been teaching at Kabul University for some time and currently lives in Paris.

Siddiq Barmak made the film Osama in 2003 in Kabul. In this film, he portrays the life of an Afghan family during the Taliban regime. In Osama’s film, Barmak tries to make the film quite real. In Osama’s film, which is one of the first films in Afghanistan after the Taliban regime, we see a great technical change in the art of Afghan cinema but in the film, there is not much lighting because most of the film was shot in open locations. In such locations, high-contrast lighting can never be used or a specific movement can be done with light. For this reason, the director has to use soft lighting in the scenes so that he can only portray his characters in front of the camera. This type of lighting can also be seen in another of Siddiq Barmak’s films called “Opium War”. In both Barmak films, only the interior scenes have some lighting, which is for normal lighting and scene viewing. We do not see any creative work in lighting. Or that they have given a special dramatic situation to the scene with light. But in indoor scenes, attempts have been made to use high-contrast light. This type of use of light often helps the sense inside the scene and forces the audience to focus on the point of view of the filmmaker.

Barmak Akram

Barmak Akram is an Afghan filmmaker born in 1966 in Kabul During the war, he left Afghanistan and emigrated to Europe. He studied art in Paris, France. After graduating, he mostly produced documentaries. Akram’s first feature film is “Kabul Kid”, which he shot in 2009 in Kabul. The film is screened at various festivals. Akram then made the film “Wajmah”, this film Akram, like his previous film, has had a significant presence in international festivals and has brought awards for film actors.

Barmak Akram has tried to make the film more of a documentary in the film Cable Baby The choice of such a form for making the film has caused it to use more of a normal light and light in the location space. For this reason, no special lighting is seen in the film. There is a soft light in most of the scenes in the film, which contributes to the naturalness and state of the documentary form of the film. Akram has observed this form of lighting more in the film “Wajmah”. The form of lighting in both Barmak Akram films is the same. But in the film “Wajmah” it shows itself more, so it has contributed to the documentary and normal form of the film. When the viewer sees the film, he feels more like he is watching a documentary and can feel synonymous with it. Maybe if Akram had used other lighting, the film could not have affected the audience so much. This natural lighting has helped the film a lot to make the audience believe it.

Roya Sadat

Roya Sadat was born in 1981. He started working in cinema in 2001. Sadat has four feature films, five documentaries and two series in his career. In Afghanistan, she founded the Dream Film House. Ms. Sadat’s latest film is “A Letter to the President”, which was produced in 2017. In 2018, Roya Sadat will be awarded an award by the Netherlands, and in the same year, she won the International Award for Brave Women.

“Letter to the President” tells a simple story of the lives of Afghan people and women. Narrates the life of a woman who is in prison for the murder of her husband. The film, despite having a simple narrative but it has many problems for women and Afghan society. Roya Sadat in the form of a woman’s life tries to symbolically express the social problems of the people and women of Afghanistan. In her film, Sadat has tried to make a good film from the best facilities available in Afghanistan, as well as with the help of some facilities from abroad. She had good facilities to produce this film in the technical department. But despite all her efforts, she could not do well in the lighting department. In most parts of the light, it is limited to ordinary light and mere lighting of the stage. She has not tried to help the audience to understand the emotional layers hidden within the film by creating the light of a space to create a dramatic atmosphere. Despite the professional conditions and facilities, she had, she could have created a better atmosphere in the film and added to the film information with lighting. But it should not be forgotten that “Letter to the President” is one of the best films in Afghanistan. Compared to other films produced in recent years in Afghanistan, it has a good structure and better lighting.

Sahraa Karimi

Sahraa Karimi is an Afghan director who was born in Iran and completed her primary education in Iran and her university education in Slovakia. Karimi holds a doctorate in art. In her pre-university period, she starred in the film “Girls of the Sun” directed by Maryam Shahbaz. Sahraa Karimi has produced several documentaries that have participated in various festivals. “Eve, Mary, Aisha” is Sahraa Karimi’s first film.

Sahraa Karimi has tried to portray the lives of women in the patriarchal society of Afghanistan in the film “Eve, Mary, Aisha”. The film follows a simple narrative structure that contributes to the film’s credibility. Considering that the film was made inside Afghanistan, but an attempt has been made to use filmmaking criteria in it. There are no complicated and specific movements of the camera in this film, this kind of framing and camera movements have simply helped the narration of the film a lot. Karimi does not use special lighting in his film. The lights are completely natural and, in many places, the same light is used in the location space. This kind of open lighting, along with the kind of storytelling that Grimm has chosen for her film, has helped the film and made it more believable for the audience with its natural locations. Karimi has not tried to tell the story to her audience with lighting effects She has tried, as the story of the film is, a simple and ordinary story of the life of an Afghan woman with the usual light in the scenes of the film, it is easy to help the audience to enter the depths of the life of an Afghan woman and think of her as a twin.

Shahrbanoo Sadat

Shahrbanoo Sadat is another Afghan female filmmaker Who entered the field of cinema in the post-Taliban era and has been able to find a place for herself in cinema. Shahrbanoo, who was born in Iran, returns to Afghanistan with her family after living in Iran for several years. He teaches cinema at film-making institutes in Kabul. And participates in the “Two Weeks with Directors” section at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Sadat has made two feature films, “Wolf and Sheep” and “Orphanage,” which have won her awards at festivals.

In “Wolf and Sheep”, Shahrbanoo Sadat depicts a simple rural life with a completely realistic structure. It depicts a life that is most likely an influence on his own life. There is no special lighting in this movie. Like Sahraa Karimi, Shahrbanoo Sadat tries to narrate her film using the natural light in the locations. This kind of simplification with the type of lighting that is intended for it has greatly contributed to the credibility of the film. Sadat continues this type of lighting in the movie “Orphanage” and does the same way of lighting in this movie. Although Shahrbanoo has a professional production team, she does not try to make her films very technical. Because too much getting into the technique destroys the film’s sense of realism. Simple and realistic lighting in both Shahrbanoo Sadat’s films has helped to tell her story.

Masood Eslami

Masood Eslami is an Afghan filmmaker who grew up in Iran Has studied cinema in Iran, Pakistan and South Korea. After taking filmmaking courses, Eslami started making short films, and his films have been screened at various festivals. For some time, he has been teaching filmmaking to cinema lovers and has directed two series. Masoud Salami’s latest work is the movie “Kabul Girls”, which he co-directed with Ms. Masoumeh Ebrahimi.

“Girls of Kabul”, like “Eve, Maryam, Aisha” and “Letter to the President”, narrates the lives of Afghan women and girls. In this film, like the other two films, there is no special narrative structure, the film proceeds in a real way and narrates the life story of girls in Kabul slowly and without special visual effects. There is no special lighting in this movie. This is the case in most films produced in Afghanistan. Because they try not to get out of the realistic mode of the film, and this realism of the film, forces them to use a normal lighting that has more of the mode and form of lighting in the scene.

Kaveh Irik

Kaveh Irik was born in 1981 in Afghanistan’s Daykundi province. Like many Afghan immigrants, he spent his childhood in Iran. He teaches filmmaking and theater courses in Iran. In Iran, he directs several theaters and makes short films. He will return to Afghanistan in 2011. Performs in several theaters and makes several short films. In Afghanistan, it forms the Meem(M) Theater Group, which teaches theater to young people across Afghanistan. Eric has participated in many festivals with his artwork, which has brought him awards. One of his plays, “Empty Suitcase”, has been translated and published in French by Gilda Shahverdi.

Kaveh Irik’s latest work of art is the film “Two Ladies”, which was produced in 2021. Like many Afghan filmmakers, Eric has focused on women’s lives. In this film, she depicts the life of two Afghan girls who are holding a toy in the hand of an Afghan man. Unlike other Afghan filmmakers who have tried harder to be realistic and choose a realistic structure for their film, Eric has gone a step further and entered a semi-surrealist drama. In surreal films, a simple and ordinary lighting can never be used. For this reason, the filmmaker has to use unconventional visual effects and stage design to send the message hidden within his film, and most importantly, special lighting that can help the story.

Eric uses high-contrast lighting in “Two Ladies,” Of course, this is completely natural because all the scenes in this movie take place at night as a result, he has no choice but to use high-contrast lighting. This kind of lighting in the movie “Two Ladies” has helped Eric a lot to be able to better introduce his character with that dual character. In this film, Eric goes a step further and uses color in some of his scenes to be able to narrate his drama. It can be said that Kaveh Eric has used color and light well in the film “Two Ladies”.

Result

Most Afghan filmmakers choose the social issues of everyday life of the Afghan people for their films. The choice of such subjects requires a realistic structure to be constructed. This type of structure gives the films a documentary mode and is acceptable to the audience as a real drama. Therefore, in many films made in Afghanistan, we do not see special lighting in the films. Because if they want to use special lights with special effects in their films, they get out of the realistic mode of the film. In none of the Afghan films do we see the lighting that is in “citizen Kane” or “Rebecca”. In these films, we see that the director uses light well to convey a visual message. Instead of saying something, the character conveys his message to the audience through the shadows he creates. In “Rebecca”, Hitchcock uses face lighting to convey the character of the film to the audience. Orson Welles uses light in “Citizen Kane” in a scene where he tries to show that Kane forcibly accepts his words to his wife. Kane’s shadow is placed on his wife. It is in such lighting that light conveys messages instead of characters. In Afghan films we can painlessly find lighting that light can convey instead of characters.

References

Wollen, Peter. 2010. Signs and meaning in cinema. Translation: Tarbiat, Abdullah. Taheri, Bahman Tehran. Soroush.

Beaver, Eugene. 1988. The story of cinema. Translation: Turani, Behrooz. Tehran. Printing and Publishing Organization.

Lawson, John Howard. 1983 The evolution of cinema. Translation: Yalfani, Mohsen. Tehran. Informed.

Mansouri, Sayed Amir 2017. Quarterly Journal of Oriental Art and Civilization. Fifth year. Issue eighteen. Tehran.

love and friendship. (1945), directed by Rashid Latifi, Afghanistan.

Epic of love. (1989), directed by Latif Ahmadi, Afghanistan.

Escape. (1982), directed by Saeed Orakzai, Afghanistan.

Patient soldier. (1985), directed by Latif Ahmadi, Afghanistan.

the kite Runner. (2007), directed by Mark Forster, USA.

Travel to Kandahar. (2000), directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iran.

Osama. (2003), directed by Siddiq Barmak, Afghanistan.

Ash and dirt. (2004), directed by Atiq Rahimi, Afghanistan.

Patient stone. (2012), directed by Atiq Rahimi, Afghanistan.

Lady of the Nile. (2020), directed by Atiq Rahimi, France.

Letter to the President. (2017), directed by Roya Sadat, Afghanistan.

Cable kid. (2009), directed by Barmak Akram, Afghanistan, France.

Wolves and sheep. (2016), directed by Shahrbanoo Sadat, Afghanistan.

Orphanage. (2019), directed by Shahrbanoo Sadat, Afghanistan.

Citizen Kane. (1941), directed by Orson Welles, USA.

Rebecca. (1940), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, USA.

Two ladies. (2021), directed by Kaveh Irik, Afghanistan.

Wajmah. (2013), directed by Barmak Akram, Afghanistan.

Girls of Kabul. (2019), directed by Masoud Eslami, Masoumeh Ebrahimi, Afghanistan.