Just 24 years old, journalist, translator, and coordinator Ajmal Naqshbandi was one of Afghanistan’s best “fixers”-people who help foreign media negotiate the treacherous landscape of personalities that includes ordinary citizens, Afghan government officials, and Taliban fighters. In Naqshbandi’s own words, “This work is very dangerous. I bring one enemy to meet another.” Fixer follows the close relationship between Naqshbandi and one of his clients, American journalist Christian Parenti. The intimate portrait of two colleagues shifts dramatically when Naqshbandi is kidnapped, along with an Italian reporter, by Taliban forces. The situation goes from bad to worse as foreign powers pressure for a fast resolution to the kidnapping, the Afghan government bungles its response, and the spectre of Taliban power looms in the background. What follows is the tragic story of one man forgotten in the crossfire. Ultimately, Fixer is an unflinching look at the problems facing a troubled and proud nation. Shannon Abel.

Co-presented with Canadian Journalists for Free Expression.

Credits

Director(s) : Ian Olds
Producer(s) : Nancy Roth, Ian Olds
Cinematographer(s) : Ian Olds
Editor(s) : Ian Olds
Composers(s) : Growing

Subjects

FIXER: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi deals with the following subjects: Afghani Cultures & Issues, Journalists & the Media, War and Conflict

Screenings

7:15 pm Wed, May 6
The ROM Theatre
100 Queen’s Park
Note: inside the Royal Ontario Museum, at Avenue Road & Bloor St West

4:00 pm Thu, May 7
Innis Town Hall
2 Sussex Avenue