RocKabul: when music puts you in the firing line | HerCanberra

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RocKabul: when music puts you in the firing line

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A generation brought up on Spinal Tap has certain expectations from its rockumentaries.

There will be bigger than life personalities, conflict, clashes between band members, amazing tour locations and a story of overcoming the odds.

RocKabul, about Afghanistan’s first and only metal band, delivers all that and more. And it even has the benefit of being true.

This stranger than fiction story is about a group of young musicians, who’d never played or performed before and who grew up in a regime where listening to Western music was a crime.

Before they were a band, brothers Qasem and Padram and cousins Qais and Lemar played in secret in their bedrooms, forced to hide their instruments. Completely self-taught they didn’t know guitars needed tuning and were playing from instinct.

Despite needing to hide their music, District Unknown was born.

In 2008, barely out of their teens, they heard about an Australian musician living in Kabul’s expat community of diplomats and aid workers. They asked Travis Beard, an Australian musician and NGO worker who had a secure basement, if they could rehearse in secret. As they became more skilled at playing, Travis started filming his new friends, charting their progress as they become more skilled musicians and the toll keeping a secret life.

The film lets you meet and get to know the guys through interviews and footage following them at rehearsals. It’s a firsthand look at the realities and challenges of life in Afghanistan and what decades of war have done to the country’s landscape, culture and people.

The film follows the band over seven years, from their first performance in the living room of a friend, where they’re so nervous some members face the wall rather than their small audience. As their confidence grows and they start performing at public gigs they’re forced to wear masks that cover their identities. The danger to them is real and apparent, early in the film Travis Beard records a member of the Taliban saying it is acceptable to kill anyone performing Western music.

The power of the film comes from seeing these young performers growing in skill and finding their voices. A turning point is when Travis works with the French academy of culture in Kabul to stage an open-air music festival. As District Unknown prepares to perform, the band debates fiercely whether to remove their masks and let their identities be known. As an audience member you can only marvel at their bravery to live their lives by their own terms.

Over the years there are line-up changes within District Unknown, as one member leaves for the relative safety of an arranged marriage in Turkey, and singer Yousef joins them. He is another strong personality, and during the film is briefly imprisoned on a tour to remote areas of the country.

After being allowed to temporary leave the country to perform in an Indian music festival, the band is at risk once the US and allied forces start to pull out of the region. Just like the conflict and political situation in Afghanistan there are no easy answers bringing District Unknown’s story to a conclusion.

Whether you’re a fan of metal music or are interested in a rarely seen glimpse of Afghanistan, this is a fascinating film. It questions why after the international community has injected more than a trillion dollars into Afghanistan, it is still hit by counterinsurgency.

And now I’ve hooked you on seeing RocKabul, I’m going to ask for your help. I was at the international premiere of the film at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in February. Youssef and Travis gave a Q&A and performed a gig that had everyone rocking.

RocKabul was supported by Screen Australia so it’s time to get it shown here. It will show at the Sydney Film Festival in June, but I’m working on a plan to get it screened here in Canberra. If you’re interested in seeing it, let me know in the comments.

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