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By Thomas Chau

Three years after the tragedies of September 11th, First Look Pictures and THINKFilm will release “Septem8er Tapes” in theaters across the country. “Septem8er Tapes” first made its appearance at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, and is the first feature film for commercial director Christian Johnson. For Johnson, the subject of the matter hits home for him, as his wife was on one of the doom American Airlines flights on that dark day of terror.

The movie is a gritty, harrowing look at the War on Terrorism, as it is a fictitious story set in real war-torn Afghanistan. But this isn’t the overdone “Blair Witch” approach; the filmmakers, actors, and crew members found themselves in the midst of all the danger and hype, as they often come face-to-face with real guns, missiles, bullets, and Taliban officials.

The gimmick for the film is that the audience is watching eight surviving tapes from an American journalist named Don Larson (George Calil). Larson, or “Lars,” travels to Afghanistan one year after the events of 9/11 in search of Osama bin Laden. He sets out to do an investigative piece on the War on Terrorism, where he first starts out in Kabul and then eventually makes his way into the northern regions of Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden is supposedly hiding. Lars goes into the country with two companions, one of whom is an Afghani-American named Wali Zarif (Wali Razaqi), who serves as the translator between the Lars and the people of Afghanistan. The other is a filmmaker named Sonny. They are first arrested for taking photographs but while in prison, they learn of a bounty hunter named Babak who may be able to help them in their mission.

Regarding the real danger the cast and crew faced while filming, writer/director Johnson attributes actor’s Wail Razaqi’s fluency in Farsi and Afghani-American heritage as a major component to their survival. “If Calil and I didn’t have Razaqi as our guide and translator behind-the-scenes, in addition to in front of the camera at all times, I think we might have faced a much harsher reality. We’re lucky that we were able to leave Afghanistan with footage and without harm.”

Razaqi shares an interesting anecdote: “During a card game with my cousin and his friends, someone told a joke about a bounty on Americans. They told us that everyone in Afghanistan knows that there are not only rewards offered by Americans to catch al-Qaeda members, but that now al-Qaeda had also been offering $100,000 dollars for a live American or $50,000 for a dead one. Our laughs quickly ended when I translated that they were not joking at all.”

Johnston reveals that even though an outline for the story was developed in the States, he warned cast and crew members that real dangers would lurk at every corner. “I made an agreement with the crew that I would run the camera at ALL times – even if situations became tense or dangerous,” he says. “The outline was constantly changed as a result of unexpected encounters and dangerous situations. Along with the crew’s agreement to remain on camera at all times (the crew only consisted of George Calil, Wali Razaqi, Christian Johnston, Kevin Moller and Christian Van Gregg), they also agreed to never break out of character while in Afghanistan. They were warned before they left that locals might not be sympathetic or helpful to “Hollywood” style filmmakers. This approach allowed the crew to gain access, thereby acquiring footage beyond their wildest imagination. Real bounty hunters, real arms dealers, real weapons, real interviews and live fire….”

This style of filmmaking took its toll on the actors, especially Calil. According to Razaqi, “Calil suffered from dehydration sickness during one of the most important scenes in the film. This scene took place in the middle of the desert and could not be recreated. Johnston kept the cameras rolling and allowed Calil to play out his role while ill. He would have stopped to give him medical attention, but the closest village was over three hours away by jeep. I also suffered an illness, and came back from Afghanistan 45 lbs lighter.”

Once shooting on the project ended, getting out of Afghanistan was no easy task as well. Razaqi reveals, “I entered Afghanistan with an Afghani passport, which was issued to me in 1999 when the Taliban was still in power. It had the official – and very recognizable – stamp of the Taliban. This caused tremendous difficulty while we were leaving Afghanistan. Within an hour of our outgoing flight – after some bribes and pressure from the well known contacts we had made – I managed to immediately get a new passport (which would have normally taken another week). We got on the flight out of the country, which at that time, was only once a week. Thus ended our Afghan adventure.”

"September Tapes" is currently playing in limited release and will be shown in theaters nationwide on September 24th.