JIRGA

Writer and Director
Benjamin Gilmour
(SON OF A LION)

Stars
Sam Smith, Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad, Amir Shah Talash and Basheer Safi

The title of this film denotes the word used for a tribal council in Afghanistan, where this entire Australian production is set and shot. Members who form a part of this Jirga will decide the fate of a former Australian soldier seeking redemption by the end of this 78 minute fictional drama.

It’s been three years since the war when Mike (Sam Smith) returns to Afghanistan. He doesn’t speak their language, isn’t carrying much baggage and possesses a large sum of Afghan Afghani currency. However, Mike is carrying plenty of emotional baggage, having killed an innocent civilian in front of his wife and children during the war. Troubled by his own personal convictions, Mike pays some of the locals to help escort him to where that fateful incident occurred, which is south of Kabul and territory that is heavily occupied by members of the Taliban.

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The themes and certain points captured in this story is what makes JIRGA exactly the type of film that we both need more of in our world and ought to see. Other than its more clear characteristics of redemption and forgiveness, JIRGA is also a meaningful and meditating reminder of the death and destruction of similar non-fictional wars that innocent civilians are invariably forced to live with in these parts of the world. Regardless of how different we might be to one another, the irreplaceable worth of a single human life that is a loved one to you is something that we all share in common. So too is the shock and grief felt for long to come by their sudden and unnecessary death. This is what JIRGA conveys in such an authentic and raw manner.

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Writer and director Benjamin Gilmour, who recently won the CinefestOZ $100,000 prize for best Australian film, is also the director of photography for this film and cinematographer of previous movie, SON OF A LION, filmed entirely in Pakistan. His endeavour to exhibit the humanity that exists, but is overlooked in regions of the world that continue to be headlines for violent and inhumane acts, and the dangerous extremities he chooses to keep his productions as genuine as they can be, deserve every ounce of credit. If you’re seeking further proof of that fact beyond the rare opportunity to see a mostly English spoken film actually shot in Afghanistan, then look no further than the casting, which features some ex-Taliban members!