By Sangeeta Kumar
As is often said ‘the world is, fortunately, never clear and simple’ and the village of Darra Adam Khel stands testimony to the adage. Nestled in the stunning mountains of NWFP, Pakistan is the town of Darra Adam Khel, devoted almost entirely to the production of guns.

This is the setting for Benjamin Gilmour’s ‘Son of a Lion’, about a young Pashtun boy who wants to go to school instead of working in his father’s weapons workshop. ‘Son of a Lion’ premiered at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival.

EGO talks to Benjamin about the film, its making and a people who have all too often dominated western media in the post 9/11 world.

EGO: Son of a Lion is set in the weapon making village Darra Adam Khel. What led you there?

Benjamin: A small write-up in a guide book attracted my attention to this village when my wife and I were traveling in Pakistan in 2001. We hired an armed guard got a permit and visited. So fascinated was I by this place that years later it became the location for Son of a Lion. In no other place on earth is there a civilian town totally dedicated to arms manufacture. When the Pakistani military gets billions of dollars in US funding and Western nations legally manufacture heavy weapons for use against relatively defenseless populations the existence of a place like Darra Adam Khel is understandable. In light of the historic threats Pashtuns have faced from outside forces arming themselves is all about self defense.

EGO: Your film is about a young boy who wants to go to school instead of working in his father’s weapons workshop. Is this based loosely on a true incident? If not what inspired you to tell this story?

Benjamin: The narrative is based on a true story. Father and son dynamics are the synapse of progress. Particularly in poorer countries children can still be found working full-time in the family business from a very early age and expected to carry it on often at the expense of an education. Poverty is a big factor in this and needs to be addressed as the main reason child labor still exists. But as globalization and new ways of thinking infiltrates every corner of the world children are challenging traditions themselves in order to satiate their inquisitive minds and share in development of their nations. The story of Niaz in Son of a Lion came from a discussion with a boy in Darra Adam Khel as he sat polishing an AK47.

EGO: In the post 9/11 world stereotypes about the Pashtun tribe tend to dominate western media. What was your experience living among them?

Benjamin: Stereotypes of Pashtuns are no different to stereotypes of Muslims in general. In Pakistan non-Pashtuns should be wary of what I call “Pashtunaphobia” because this is exactly the way many ignorant people in the West actually view all Muslims including Punjabis and other Pakistani ethnic groups. Yes extremist ideologies have grown among a small minority of Pashtuns but this correlates directly with the degree of poverty and lack of services in the tribal areas of Pakistan and the affect heavy-handed military operations have had on the civilian population.

EGO: The Pashtuns are bound by a rigid tribal code that leads to them shielding the Taliban. In the same vein the government of Pakistan at Washington’s bidding subverts the tribe because of their support for the Taliban. How would you characterize the rather complex forces at work in the region?

Benjamin: A Pashtun friend of mine once said a Talib is like a brother you don’t see eye-to-eye with. Even if you don’t like your brother he remains your brother and if he is attacked we will defend him. The Taliban ideology is a fascist one and I would certainly not enjoy the rigid life they prescribe.

But I wonder how tolerant the rest of Pakistan is in comparison? We all love to judge the Taliban for its extremism but what about religious bigotry and poor attitudes toward women and racism in other areas? The issue has never been whether we should accept or not accept the way of life Taliban propose for Pakistan but rather how to curb their influence on a free and fair society.

In the West we do this by giving individuals and groups a voice. Suppressing them violently has historically proven unproductive like trying to put out a fire with petrol. Criminal cases such as assassinations and suicide bombings need to be treated as such. The current government policy of punishing the tribes among which Taliban groups live will be doomed to failure. This is not because the Taliban are an unconquerable force but that the tribes are. In casting ordinary Pashtuns as enemies by inflicting collective punishment and uprooting millions from their homes may temporarily curb Taliban activity but a disgruntled and vengeful populous will result in a resurgence twice as strong. Subverting the tribe because of their support for Taliban is largely a fallacy because the primary reason Pashtuns are being hit is due to the high profitability of this war for those who are leading it. There is plenty of evidence showing tribal militia leaders who are not Taliban like Mangal Bagh Afridi in Khyber for example have been targeted regardless. Even General Lt. David Kilcullen estimates that less than 10% of the fighters hole-up in Waziristan are hardcore Taliban the rest ordinary tribal Pashtuns who believe they are defending their freedom from ultimate take-over.

EGO: Surely the recent drone attacks have divorced them of any regard for the Federal government of Pakistan. Are you in touch with the crew and cast? Are they safe?

Benjamin: I think most Pashtun in NWFP and FATA look skyward and wonder if the next missile will descend on their spot. US officials have claimed drones to be very effective and I often wonder that they mean by this. Statistically hellfire missiles have a 2% accuracy. An estimated 700 people have been killed by drones since they began operating over the Durand Line. This is absolutely outrageous. It is mass murder by America and goes against all its legal and Christian ideals. Would the US kill 98 of its own citizens in order to assassinate criminals? I don’t think so. Obama has thankfully set stricter guidelines for use of predator drones but they are no way to fight a war. The counter-productive nature of collateral damage has been severely underestimated by Washington and has probably been one of the main contributors to the support among Pashtuns for anti-government militants and Taliban. As for my cast and crew I am in regular contact and they are safe.

EGO:Going back to the film the decision to use non professional actors lent authenticity to the script. Were they comfortable with the script as they read it or did you have to make a lot of changes along the way?

Benjamin:: When I first came to Pakistan with the intention of making the film I carried a full-length feature script but the Pashtuns laughed at me saying Fancy! A Pashtun script written by an Aussie! It was obvious I had missed the cultural mark by a mile. But I wasn’t precious about my script. I didn’t let me ego get in the way. The actors pretty much completely re-wrote the script in a Pashtun voice and where there was no set dialogue they improvised. Some of the scenes were spontaneous additions. For example Sher Alam Afridi, the man who played our father character, told a story about his Mujahedeen days in Afghanistan and used a Pepsi bottle to demonstrate the way in which one must hold a rocket launcher. I like the story so much I incorporated it into the script. So we were very fluid and very receptive to new material along the way.

EGO: How did you manage to film there - were there significant logistical constraints including permits?

Benjamin: Permits are designed to hamper writers and journalists from entering the area, apparently for our own safety. Ever the cynic I suspected the main reason was more about cover up of the war in FATA. Especially under Musharraf treatment of journalists was archaic and he considered them as much of an enemy as extremists. Operations in FATA have been poorly reported for more than five years because of the limitations on journalists entering these areas. Logistically I had to hide my face from everyone. Although I was allied to Pathans I could not take the risk of being misunderstood by hot-headed extremists seeking a kidnap opportunity. Fact is the Westeners who travel to FATA in civilian clothing are rarely enemies of Pashtuns. If they were they wouldn’t risk it. And yet kind-hearted aid workers have been kidnapped and beheaded which is not helpful for Taliban public relations contrary to what they may think. All the same as I could not get a permit at the time for the tribal areas I had to shoot most of my scenes in settled areas close to Khyber and Orakzai agencies. For cover I grew a long beard wore contact lenses and took other precautions to make sure people knew I was friend not foe.

EGO: The film is set to release in London distributed by Mara Pictures any plans of a US release?

Benjamin: Wouldn’t that be nice? You know the US is in a cultural decline. Despite this, countries in Asia seem to revere American films and programs which is a tragedy because the US is far from a great cultural role model. The consequence is that American audiences would rather watch a soulless action film from Hollywood than an independent foreign film like Son of a Lion. And yet a film like ‘Son of a Lion’ is so vital for US audiences to understand a little about countries in which they are tied up in war and politics. The irony is that if the US understood its enemies better it probably wouldn’t have any.

Images courtesy of Mara Pictures (www.marapictures.com)
Mara Pictures is a boutique theatrical distributor acquiring films for cinema exhibition in the United Kingdom.