John C. Karr

For a short time in Kabul in 2004, I lived in a guesthouse with a number of election observers from the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL). As the security situation in Afghanistan continued to oscillate between passable and troubling, and as other organizations scaled back observation missions or declined altogether to observe the Afghan presidential election, I watched as the ANFREL team - some in their early 20s - prepared to deploy for two-month assignments across Afghanistan with only a satellite phone for use in emergencies. At the time, I remember thinking someone ought to make a movie about this.

Election observation is a risky job. Trained to watch for wrongdoing and threats of violence against all who participate in an election process, observers are critical. It's not an easy task, especially in a place as geographically diverse and dangerous as Afghanistan - but it's desperately needed. While elections give hope to the people, observers work to ensure that hope doesn't die on election day.

Fast forward to 2005, another election is scheduled to take place, this time to form the lower house of parliament, and involving several thousand more candidates than the 18 who ran in the presidential election. And again, the need for observers is clear. Again, there are few in the international community who step forward to serve as formal observers. Again, ANFREL agrees to send the only long-term international observation mission to Afghanistan. And this time we decided to make a movie about it.

THE OBSERVER is that movie, and more. It's also the story of MUHAMMAD BADRUL HISHAM BIN ISMAIL, a first time observer and one of the youngest ANFREL members to ever participate in an election mission. Badrul, a young Muslim man from Malaysia, comes to this experience with fresh eyes, and real questions about the process. He's an exceptional person, with a sharp, empirical mind, and an easy laugh. He's also only 20 years old. As Badrul struggles to understand the complex world of Afghan local politics, I think my own respect for him grows. Though he is a newcomer to the process, I believe Badrul represents the best of what it means to be an observer, that, despite the circumstances, smart people with a strong sense of purpose can stand for something bigger than themselves.

I think of the hope this inspires when I speak with people about THE OBSERVER and those profiled in this film. I am often asked "Why would anyone want to go to a country like Afghanistan?" This is a question that the observers, Badrul especially, had to grapple with as they prepared for their mission. While I can't speak for the ANFREL team, for Badrul, Kamal, Black, Somsri, and the others, I think the answer lies somewhere in the fact that Afghanistan is a country of people who are desperate for a better life. They are looking for it, praying for it, and hoping for it every day. I believe the observers, young and old, experienced and not, represent some way to hold on to hope - hope that there are people out there who are concerned about the powerless, who believe non-violence is the way forward, and who will understand the danger implicit in the question "Why would anyone want to go to Afghanistan?" -- and they would go anyway.

-- John C. Karr
September 25, 2006