Synopsis

 

Camp Victory, Afghanistan gets at the stark reality of the US/NATO "exit strategy" from Afghanistan. Shot over the course of five years, the film follows a battle-hardened Afghan General and the steady stream of U.S. National Guard soldiers deployed to train him and his army.

Although the United States has poured military aid into Afghanistan, money alone does not produce an army; people do. And these Afghans and Americans have more in common than anyone would expect. With lives on the line and the military budget ballooning, can a modern Afghan army be created when 80% of the enlistees are illiterate; all are impoverished; the weaponry is second rate; and the enemy is elusive, dangerous, and lawless?

Using nearly 300 hours of verité footage shot between 2005 and 2008, Camp Victory, Afghanistan, directed by Carol Dysinger, is the first film to examine the reality of building a functioning Afghan military --- but is also a story about friendship and the unlikely bonds that form in war.

Camp Victory, Afghanistan premiered in competition at SXSW 2010, and played at the Museum of Modern Art Doc Fortnight and the Human Rights Watch Film Festival.

 

Trailer

 

 Filmmaker

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Carol Dysinger has been a feature film and documentary editor for the past 25 years. Her editing credits include: the Emmy-nominated documentary film, Deadline for Big Mouth Productions (Sundance Film Festival; NBC 2004); Rain for Lola Films, M.Scorsese Executive Producer (Sundance Film Festival; Venice Film Festival); the Emmy-nominated documentary film, Punk; and Santitos for Springall Pix, John Sayles Exec (Sundance Film Festival, Guadalajara, San Sebastian).

Dysinger directed the short documentary Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl), which won Best Documentary Short at Tribeca Film Festival 2019. She was recently awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, and is currently developing a semi-autobiographical interactive piece depicting her experience with war. 

Carol is a tenured Professor of Graduate Film and New Media at NYU Film School in the Tisch School of the Arts.

Camp Victory, Afghanistan was made with help from: