WATANDAR: MY COUNTRYMAN

PG 1hrs 07mins

documentary | 2022, Australia | English, Afghan

Overview

After former Afghan refugee and photographer, Muzafar Ali, discovers that Afghans have been an integral part of Australia for over 160 years, he begins to photograph their descendants in a search to define his own Afghan-Australian identity. The Cameleer Descendants are a mix of Aboriginal, Afghan and Colonial Australian and as Muzafar meets and connects with the resilient but traumatised community he learns about his new country’s complicated history. His journey is interrupted when Afghanistan is handed back to the Taliban by the US and International Forces, and he races to help his friends and colleagues left behind.

Warnings

Mild themes and coarse language

Director

Jolyon Hoff

Original Review

Len Power, Canberra Critics Circle

Extracted By

Mark Horner

Featuring

Muzafar Ali, Nici Cumpston, Ken Dadleh, Elaine Mackean, Aminullah Shamrose

Watch The Trailer

Watandar, My Countryman – Official Trailer

Storyline (warning: spoilers)

Muzafar Ali is a Hazara artist from Afghanistan who grew up in Pakistan as a refugee. In 2004, when he was 17, he returned to Afghanistan to work with the United Nations disarmament program. This work took him across the country, and he extensively photographed the regions, providing an insight into rarely documented areas.
In 2015, Muzafar was resettled to Australia through the humanitarian visa program. When he discovers that Afghans have been in Australia for 160 years he’s compelled to photograph and document the stories of their descendants.
Then, in 2021, the Taliban take over Afghanistan. With his homeland lost, he’s driven to help and reaches out to his former colleagues, whose lives are in danger. Finally, at the Camel Cup in Maree, Muzafar and his family find they have a new home with their Watandar - their countrymen.
This new documentary covers the stories of Muzafar’s meetings with Afghan descendants in Australia, his ever-increasing concern for people still trapped under current Taliban rule and his own search for a new Afghan-Australian identity.
The Afghan descendants that he meets all tell their stories in a warm, disarming way, enabling Muzafar to understand their history in this country and become part of their lives and identity.
Meanwhile, Muzafar is dealing with the horror stories of Taliban rule coming from Afghanistan and he provides us with a first-hand perspective on their experiences.
This is a moving documentary that gives a compelling insight into a refugee’s search for his own Afghan-Australian.