How you got interested in film making? When I was ten years old and i have been youngest of five. I got interested in the activities they were doing and I eventually noticed that I am capturing their moment on my camera and viewing it externally. I was making scripts for my friends and brothers and we were playing this game and I would divide the members based on their characters and would make them understand their role. It was very interesting and at the same time very fun to do so. Then I begin to write scripts stories about different events about Afghanistan.
How do you describe your experience so far?
The best thing is about been the variety of work and 21 years in studio doing TV shows for Tolo and I direct TV shows for them. Film directors work full time, often with long hours on evening,weekends and holidays traveling to various locations for shoots. I have 21 years of experience in this field and I have also been closely working with cinematographer and actors. The nature of the film requires one to understand the knowledge of the film production process. Working in Afghanistan is very challenging with shooting and security because we cannot travel to provinces and beautiful cities in Afghanistan. So far It has been an exciting journey and I enjoy working in this field.

What does the future look like for this profession?
It has really bright future in Afghanistan, since its newly established and there is a lot of room for improvements. Youth have shown much interested in advocating women’s right through showing it as a film. International organization are pumping millions of dollars for this industry, so there is a lot of job opportunities available. But technological we are very weak in this regard and we need a lot of improvements.
Describe a typical day on the job.
9:00 am: The team begins to filter in and we huddle in the conference room for our morning marketing meeting. We discuss the day’s deliverables, deadlines and all pending projects and visits/meetings planned for the day. If a brainstorming session or other sessions are necessary following this meeting we schedule them for a fixed time later on in the day rather than allowing the meeting to drag endlessly for everyone. 9:45 am: The day begins in earnest. The floor is a bustle of activity with phones ringing, colleagues chatting, mini-meetings taking place and the delivery boys delivering coffee, tea and morning snacks. I settle down and start responding to my emails and returning any urgent phone calls. 11:30 am: Spend half an hour reading through the field sales reports and analyzing trends for the week versus historic trends. I have an elaborate spreadsheet n my system which I review on a daily basis and analyze in depth one a week. 2 pm: Meeting with film producer manager from. When they get to the set, I usually hurry into the production trailer to go over storyboards and shot list with the director of photography. Then, I assit in technical aspects as well and read the scrip to make sure that it makes sense, and motivate actors to do their job. After that I give my recommendations on how the shoots will look like and everything along with it. Certainily I make sure that everything goes well from the actors performance , technical stuff and etc
What do you like most about your job?
The excitement and the energy that I have for this job and everyday I look forward to learn and experience different things. It is very intresting to work with all different kinds of actors and communicate with the whole deparment to make sure things go well. Another, thing that I like is traveling and going to different places.
What do you like least about your job?
Loads of work, working on holidays , and weekends. Moreover, concerning the security situation I don’t feel safe working in Afghanistan I need a place safe to that I can record the film.
What skills and abilities are most important in your work?
With an advanced knowledge of lenses and cinematography, the director can make the audience see precisely what he wants them to see in precisely the way that he wants them to see it. It is truly phenomenal how much control you have over your audience’s feelings and perceptions if you really know what you’re doing with cameras and lenses. Filmmakers who are able to visualize a fully edited sequence in their heads are skilled to the point of being almost dangerous – certainly dangerous to their competitors and anyone who wants to see them fail. Advanced mastery of lenses and editing is necessary but not sufficient: what clinches the deal is a nuanced understanding of what makes humans tick. If you know what makes humans tick, you will produce work that truly gets to people.
What advice would you give someone starting out in this career?
“When you make a movie, always try to discover what the theme of the movie is in one or two words. Every time I made a film, I always knew what I thought the theme was, the core, in one word. The reason it’s important to have this is because most of the time what a director really does is make decisions. All day long: Do you want it to be long hair or short hair? Do you want a dress or pants? Do you want a beard or no beard? There are many times when you don’t know the answer. Knowing what the theme is always helps you. So knowing the theme helps you make a decision when you’re not sure which way to go.”
Can you suggest any reading, classes, or opportunities I should pursue?
Programs typically explore additional areas of filmmaking, such as editing, cinematography, production and acting. Many programs emphasize hands-on learning by having students practice techniques with equipment similar to what they'll be using in the industry
Is there anything else you feel I should know about this career field?
“When I’m writing, it’s about the page. It’s not about the movie. It’s not about cinema. It’s about the literature of me putting my pen to paper and writing a good page and making it work completely as a document unto itself. That’s my first artistic contribution. If I do my job right, by the end of the script, I should be having the thought, ‘You know, if I were to just publish this now and not make it . . . I’m done.”
Analysis:
Having lots of options means you have to have a lot more discipline, but it’s the same kind of discipline that a painter, a novelist or a composer would have. In a way, working in [digital] is much less frustrating than working in film, but it’s not as though it’s limitless no matter how you go. The artist will always push the art form until he bumps up against the technology — that’s the nature of the artist. Because cinema is such a technological medium, there’s a lot of technology to bump into, and I think as more people use digital they’re going to find [it has] a lot more limitations. Some of those limitations will be [equivalent to] the limitations they had with film, and some of those limitations will just be because they’ve gone so far that they finally bumped into the technological ceiling. There is often a lot of pressure in the work environment of a film director. Film directors need to make most of the decisions; therefore, the success of the movie depends on them. Directors also help the actors to truly understand the characters. They might explain the character’ motivation for a particular action or their back-stor and they push the actor to do their best. In Afghanistan it’s a growing industry and international organizations are helping to develop this sector. There will be a lot of job opportunities provided in the market, once this industry is shaken and developed further. There is also a need for professional directors who can cost and work with different technical issues. Working in this field is difficult and requires a lot of energy and effort to finalize a task.

Dear Ahmad Shah,
If you’re looking for someone who can follow orders to the T and doesn’t like to rock the boat, I am probably not the right person. But if WAW Organization is looking for someone with analytical skills, good in communication, interpersonal and reporting skills let’s talk. Please find enclosed my CV in application for the Monitoring and Evaluation officer advertised in the ACBAR website on 5 May. I have worked in different projects for protecting the rights of Afghan women and girls. I am a conscientious person and very dedicated to advocate for women’s right. I should be very grateful for the opportunity to work in Women for Afghan Women (WAW). I have the full potential to take on the responsibility of this position immediately, and have the enthusiasm and determination to ensure that I make a success of it. Thank you for taking the time to consider this application and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Sincerely,
Maryam