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at first, to arrive at any understanding of the strange medley of type, costume and dialect.
A film depicting life and custom is always more difficult to reel off than one properly staged, and in Afghanistan, we faced an obstacle typical of that country only, extreme religious fanatism, and an extraordinarily reserved population. We were not looked upon merely as ' foreigners , , but as ' Khafirs , (infidels) and a Moslem believer can not allow Khafirs into his house, cannot sit to meals with them, and must hide from them his ways and customs.
Scenes of nomadic life were particularly difficult to take. For a number of days we followed nomads on the high road and across the mountains, but only twice did we succeed in entering their camp, and then only for a few hours.
Nor was work in the cities any easier. Who could have thought that in Afghanistan where the sun shines daily, pouring its blinding rays of light ceaselessly from morning to night our worst enemy would be, -shade ?
Yet it was so. At Mazar-et-Cherif, at Take-Kourgane, at Gaibak and even at Kabul, we did little else but struggle against the shade. The sun not only shines, it is bakingly hot, and every living thing aims only at avoiding its rays.
The centre of activity in all oriental cities is the market place and market places are almost always covered. Often, very often we met with opportunity of watching astounding scenes, but ever impossible to cinematograph.
All one sees of women in the cities can be described as moving mannequins, covered from top to toe. At the first sound of the apparatus (naturally automatic), such grey shadows move off, tryng to hide behind some corner, or inside a gate.
The first school for girls has been opened at Kabul, but all the school girls that attend its classes, ranging from eight to twenty years old, are covered by the 'tchadra'. Often one meets them on the street, black, nun-like figures, carrying their satchel — but it would be futile to try and take a full view picture of them.
Among nomads, the women do not cover their faces, but it
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