The second came when one of the film's main characters, an Afghan recruit, accidentally discharged his AK-47.
"The Afghan officers around him immediately swarmed around him and began kicking the shit out of him," Azimi said.
The young American second lieutenant in charge of the camp's Combat Arms section - who had been away when Azimi was granted permission to film and was not pleased to find him there on his return - told Azimi to stop filming.
"I kept on filming for a little while longer," Azimi said. "He said if you continue to film he would have my access revoked. And then I stopped filming."
Ironically, soon after he turned his camera off, US soldiers from the Combat Arms section arrived to break up the fight.
Azimi already had plenty of footage of abuse in the program by Afghan officers, many of whom were trained by the Soviets, ranging from what he characterized as "moderately repugnant" to "severe and criminal."
It was "very irritating," Azimi said, "because I found a great group of soldiers, and they were very sincere about trying to do a good job. And part of that was stepping in to help this recruit when his drill sergeants started to whale on him. People [who watch the film] will see the beatings and that's all they will see."
Standing Up is not Michael Moore-style agit-prop. Nor is it the kind of Discovery Channel-style documentary that imposes a narrative arc on its subject. There are no good guys or bad guys: Azimi sought out to show what life was like for Afghan recruits and the US soldiers who train them and in the process of editing the film remain as "true to the spirit" of what he witnessed as possible.
"It's a very well-made movie. It's the kind of movie that will have a hard time getting international distributorship," said Urban Nomad organizer (and former Taipei Times reporter) David Frazier. "It's unfortunate that it will be consigned to limited exposure in indie events - but at the same time, we're really happy to show it."
Asked why he had not edited his film to make it more cable-TV-friendly, Azimi said: "Life is not a neat introduction, a climax and a denouement. I didn't set forth to make an argument. I set forth to be witness to an experience."
Standing Up shows tonight at 8:45pm at Capone's restaurant, 312, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路四段312號). Azimi will be present to introduce the film and participate in a question-and-answer session afterwards. There is no minimum charge but viewers are expected to purchase a meal or drinks. Seating is limited. Call (02) 2773-3782 for reservations. For more information on the Urban Nomad Film Fest, which runs through May 2 in Taipei, before moving to Hsinchu, visit urbannomadfilmfest.blogspot.com and see coverage in the Around Town section of Friday's Taipei Times.
RSS