Educational Media Reviews Online

Created by Montse Ayuso, Jaon Salvat, and Lluïsa Roca, The Taliban Legacy describes the depredations of the Taliban against the people of Afghanistan, particularly examining the refugee situation in Pakistan. It is comprised of interviews with a number of participants, including spokespeople for refugees in Pakistani camps, UN representatives, victimized women (both anonymous and identified), and to a lesser degree, official representatives of the Taliban, including the ambassador to Pakistan, and a leader of a Taliban school or madrassa in Pakistan. Interspersed throughout the interviews is footage (some covertly shot by the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan) of refugee camps, crowd and street scenes in Afghanistan, and important events, including the destruction of the stone Buddha statutes of Bamiyan and what may be executions by the Taliban in the sports arena in Kabul. The documentary precedes the attacks of September 11.

The video opens and closes in Peshawar, Pakistan, with children at a school. Women teachers were driven from Afghanistan to Pakistan because they were forbidden to work, to go out on the streets alone, to appear with face uncovered. In the first three months of their power, the Taliban closed seventy-three schools. As one teacher asks, "Why do they [the Taliban] hate women so much?" Widows have an especially desperate time, and widow camps exist in Pakistan. Three years of drought have driven Afghanis to Pakistan to pursue the promise of food and medical supplies in the refugee camps. However, Pakistan has recently closed its borders, and one Pakistan official notes, "If we keep bringing people here, even more will come." Selectively, food and medical supplies are denied certain camps in an unsuccessful attempt to encourage refugees to return home or to have camps set up in Afghanistan. This policy, according to refugee spokesmen, results in 3 to 4 children dying each day at certain camps. The United Nations, through its special representative, attempts to mediate the conflict between the Northern Alliance and the Taliban. The Taliban perceive the UN to be a biased participant because of its sanctions, particularly restricting the sale of arms to the Taliban, and the special representative has made little headway.

This video's strongest aspects are its photography, ethnographic data, and its historical importance, now that the Taliban are apparently broken. The many portraits of Afghan people, the translations of Afghan informants and spokespeople, the urban and rural landscapes, and the street scenes are effectively documented. The video does not take a strictly human rights approach, and so is not simply a recitation of outrages, which, although important, would not make an important film. It is a snapshot of a moment in time, taken from a non-United States point of view, about a group that is now consigned to history. One Pakistani interviewee states in arguing for UN recognition and representation for the Taliban, "The Taliban are there to stay." Since events have overtaken the Taliban, the picture that this video presents may be unique, and certainly cannot be replicated.

The photography is riveting, and does not Orientalize or exoticize the subjects. Among the scenes: a Toyota truck pulls up to the soccer goal in the sports stadium in Kabul in preparation for a public punishment; a brief shot of the Tajik leader, Ahmed Shah Massoud some time before he was killed on September 9, 2001 by suicide bombers disguised as television journalists; live footage of the destruction of the Buddha statutes in March 2001; a quick take on Osama bin Laden; an Afghan women's group chanting accompanied by an organ and violin; the cant of a Taliban teacher captured by ideologies which admit no reasoned argument or dissent.

Interestingly, as important as the film is as a datapoint in history, it makes little attempt to contextualize or explain the Taliban. The video describes some of their history from 1992 forward, as the mujahidin (warriors) take Kabul. But, how did the warring mujahidin commanders so destroy the country that the Taliban could not only arise, but be welcomed by most of the people? Why do the Taliban focus their control upon women? The question asked by the teacher at the beginning of the documentary is never answered. The participants in the video occasionally refer to arguments for or against interpretations of the Koran, but in some sense these arguments are irrelevant, for the Koran is just the instrument of oppression. What are the political goals of the Taliban? Taliban means "students" and the student-led aspect of the movement, with its educational camps in Pakistan, is important.

The pace of the film is very fast, and people unfamiliar with the situation, the players, or Afghan names, will find it difficult to follow. There is no introduction. The video begins and ends in the midst of things. It makes a number of time-oriented allusions to "last November" and "a few weeks ago" perhaps indicating its television documentary origins. The film is therefore not a coherent explanation of the Taliban, nor is it in fact actually about the Taliban. As its title implies, the video is concerned with the social situation created by the Taliban, although with their demise "legacy" is probably now even a more appropriate term. The film is as much about Afghans in Pakistan as it is about Afghanistan, and most of the interviewed people are located in Pakistan. One of the most effective parts of the film, actually focused on the Taliban, occurs when a mother describes the abuse by the Taliban experienced by herself and her daughter, followed shortly by an explanation by a Taliban educator that the Taliban attitudes toward women are guided by respect and high regard for the safety and "precious" nature of women, rather than by the demonstrated contempt, control, and power relations. The metaphor used for the preciousness of women is the 1,000-rupee note. Preciousness is commodification and units of exchange. The ending of the video returns to the girls of Peshawar and a children's game in which, incongruously, the girl who is "it" is blindfolded to be pushed and poked by other girls. The game is not explained, although viewers who know the game might find it an appropriate ending.

There are a few other films that fill this particular niche. Librarians should look to Afghanistan: Exporting the Taliban Revolution (http://www.films.com - 1999), Behind the Veil: Afghan Women under Fundamentalism (http://www.films.com - 2001), and Afghanistan: State of the Taliban (http://www.lucernemedia.com - 2001) for alternatives. This last video, for example, is better for libraries seeking a more unified explanation of the objectives and ideologies of the Taliban, perhaps for secondary and college students. The recommended book to purchase is Ahmed Rashid, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000).

The Taliban will be studied for years to come. This provocative video has important ethnographic information and is a picture of the situation created by the Taliban just before its fall. Libraries that are strong in Islamic studies or have a geographical collection strength that includes Pakistan and Afghanistan should purchase this film. Other libraries that seek an educational film about the Taliban for a less specialized patron group should look elsewhere. Recommended