FAT BIDIN MEDIA

That’s right people! We will release one episode every Monday (for the next ten Mondays!) of my multimedia documentary, Guide To Afghanistan: The Adventures of a KL-ite, which includes video, still photos an text. As you would know, this is concurrent with the 10-part feature on The Malaysian Insider website, of which you can view part 2 here:

Hidup hidup! Afghanistan!
By Zan Azlee

DEC 12 — Although it was the 10th anniversary of 9/11, it was clear that many Afghans felt that it was irrelevant to them and their lives. I don’t blame them since, in their country, 9/11 seems to be happening every day.

“Every day, in my country, people are killed. If not by the Taliban, then by the American and ISAF forces. We are looking at 9/11 every day here,” gripes Ahmad Bilal Raghbat, my fixer in Afghanistan.

It seems that after 10 years of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan, the situation in the country isn’t much better. One would think that at least security and safety of the locals would have improved, but no. Attacks by the Taliban still happen regularly. And to be honest, this scared the wits out of me! The first few days sleeping in my room was spent… NOT sleeping!

One of the first things Bilal said to me when I arrived in Kabul was not to wander around Kabul on my own since it is particularly dangerous for foreigners. I had no objections there since everyone in the streets dressed and looked like dangerous Taliban members! You just couldn’t tell the difference.

That’s why, although central Kabul is considered the Green Zone and is safe, attacks still happen almost every week. How do you tell a Taliban from a non-Taliban? They are all Afghans and they all dress the same. And if it’s the beard that you go by to differentiate them (growing one is compulsory for a Taliban), well, most Afghans have beards. [Click to read the rest of the article at The Malaysian Insider]

Guide to Afghanistan: The Adventures of a KL-ite
Part 2 of 10
Hidup hidup! Afghanistan! (Long live Afghanistan!)
Zan meets up with dissatisfied Afghans who want the USA to leave their country and allow them to govern themselves. He also stumbles upon a street demonstration that is opposed to the current Karzai presidency.

Full Synopsis:
Zan Azlee, a Malaysian KL-ite journalist who has lived all his life in non-conflict zones, travels to Afghanistan to see if he can come up with the best travel guide for the country. With no idea what he is getting himself into, he dodges suicide bombers and IEDs, and even gets embedded with the army, to plan out the best tourist route in Afghanistan. This is a multimedia documentary produced by Fat Bidin Media and directed by solo-journalist Zan Azlee.

To view all the episodes, head to FATBIDIN.COM/AFGHANISTAN.

Click the thumbnails below to launch the photo essay (Part 2).

Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are still available… just give me a buzz if you are interested and we can talk! If you would like to own original FAT BIDIN MEDIA documentary films and books to enhance your coolness factor, visit the FAT BIDIN e-STORE!