Naim and Jabar

Anthropology and filmmaking meet in one of the most representative examples of the observational cinema form. In Naim and Jabar, the everyday life lived by two teens from Afghanistan takes on deeply profound dimensions through its elemental simplicity. As the camera captures the articulation of time and place in their interaction, work in its most archetypal form and play stealing in through its cracks, as well as the customs and mores (as embodied by their elders) that shape the hard shell of rules governing the boys’ lives, this significant documentary inserts us into the realm of the real with a refreshing minimalism. Limiting their interventions to the bare minimum, these two anthropologist filmmakers capture something more than just the cultural physiognomy of a place, offering audiences the chance to gaze upon the mystic aura of its presence at a specific moment in history.