Interpreters Wanted - Feature Documentary - COMING SOON
A film 14 years in the making.
Interpreters Wanted is my second feature documentary about the harrowing journey of Saifullah and Ismail Haqmal, two brother interpreters who were left behind in Afghanistan. This film took 14 years to finally finish and I’m very proud of it. In this post I’d like to share with you the adventure of how this very complicated and personal film came to be made. Check out the trailer below.
A friendship built in war.
I’ll try not to give away too many spoilers but the journey of this film started when I first got to Afghanistan in 2009 and met two brother interpreters; Saifullah and Ismail Haqmal. From the moment I met them I realized they were unlike anyone I had ever met before. Saifullah was soft-spoken, highly educated and articulate, Ismail was well-spoken, ambitious, opinionated, and they both were kind, compassionate, hard-working and genuinely good humans. I began my work as a combat videographer right away and started working very closely with them both. Saifullah was the older of the two and worked in our Public Affairs (or PAO) shop. He was translating videos like some of the opening graphics in my film Enemy at the Gate. Ismail was the kind of interpreter that went on missions “outside the wire” and was injured several times. I became very close with both men over the course of my year tour and we created a lot of video, radio and print content that went all over the country.
Ismail (Far right, 12) with his some of his younger brothers and cousins in Khost Afghanistan, mid-1990s.
Saifullah (Far Left, 19) in Khost Afghanistan with friends and cousins, mid-1990s.
Saifullah during a U.S. media engagement, Salerno Forward Operating Base, Khost Afghanistan, 2009.
A meme we made about PAO in 2009, we thought we were hilarious.
Saifullah and I the day before I leave Afghanistan, 2010.
Leaving my brothers behind.
After a rough year-long combat tour one in which I had seen many people die, was shot at, mortared, rocketed and a host of many other close calls (including many alongside Saifullah), my units deployment came to an end in 2010. One my last days in Afghanistan Saifullah tells me, “This is the end of your deployment, but I fear my deployment with never end.” It was a sad day leaving my friend behind but it was time to come home and move on. I would never forget Saifullah, Ismail and those final parting words.
Playing with my son at Ft. Richardson after my deployment, Alaska, 2010.
My late-wife Melanie and I at the Army Birthday aboard the Queen Mary, Long Beach CA, 2014.
Still from Interpreters Wanted.
Still from Interpreters Wanted.
A cry for help over Facebook.
Saifullah would sparingly keep touch with me over Facebook and it seemed like the years flew by as I started my adventure at USC School of Cinematic Arts. In 2014 Saifullah reached out to me on Facebook with a dire message, the Taliban were after him and there was no progress with his visas. In his message he described death threats through notes, phone calls and their house was even blown up at one point, luckily no one was killed. When I got the message I was so saddened and wanted to help but didn’t know how. Over the course of the next 6 years I would start a kickstarter campaign for a short scripted film called The Interpreter that would never come to pass. I then had a group of friends and family write dozens of letters to congress people, and several congressional inquiries into Saifullah’s visa situation.
Directing one of my student films, The God Machine, 2015.
On set during a student production, USC Film School, 2016.
My family and I taking a much needed break to Disneyland, CA., 2016.
I was in the Reserve during my time at USC, 2016.
Welcome to the U.S.
In 2016 Saifullah finally made it to the United States with his family, it was a long harrowing adventure but it felt as though I had helped to do something that may have saved their lives and it was probably one of the proudest moments of my life. A couple years later Ismail would come to San Antonio also. During this time I had started filming much of what was going on and our team decided to switch from a short scripted film to a feature documentary. In 2019 our team went back to Texas to film the interviews with the brothers and finish what we thought was the rest of the story…
Saifullah interviewing in his home, San Antonio, TX. 2019.
Saifullah, myself and his kids on the campus of Texas A&M, San Antonio, TX. 2019.
Ismail interviewing for our film, San Antonio, TX. 2019.
Our film was originally called “The Interpreter" we would later change it to Interpreters Wanted which we felt was much more reflective of the story we were telling. My great D.P. Josh Lehnerd leading the way, San Antonio, TX. 2019.
The final days of Afghanistan.
I began editing the film and finished it at around 55 minutes with the very happy ending of the brothers making it to the United States, but the story was far from over. Now it was 2020 and COVID-19 had hit the whole world, affecting places like Afghanistan even more viscously. At the end of 2020 Saifullah and Ismail’s father would die of COVID and Ismail flew back to Afghanistan to help. Now it’s 2021 and the disastrous withdrawal begins and Ismail, his two children and his mother are now in Afghanistan. If you want to know the rest I guess you’ll just have to watch the film :)
Footage from our film showing the Abbey Gate moments before the fatal explosion, Kabul Afghanistan, 2021.
Footage from our film of the Taliban take over of Kabul Afghanistan, 2021.
Interviewing Saifullah, Los Angeles CA., 2022.
A dream come true, my first film in a theatre.
In the Summer of 2022 an entertainment company called Veteran TV reached out to me and wanted to talk about projects I had. I told them about several and they landed on wanting to give me the finishing funds on what we were now calling Interpreters Wanted. It took me another six months to film a new interview with Saifullah and edit the third act but it all came together. On March 22, 2023 Vet TV hosted a private screening of my film at the Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Los Angeles and it received a cheering standing ovation, it was an amazing feeling. I’m so proud of this film and can’t wait for you all to finally see it.
Question and answer after our screening.
A dream of mine has been to watch one of my films in a theatre with candy and popcorn!
A film for change.
When I first started this film I had no idea it would be what it is now but more than anything I hope it honors the story of Saifullah, Ismail and the tens of thousands of Afghans that we abandoned when we pulled out of Afghanistan. There’s so much more work to be done and I’m hoping this film helps spread awareness and can be seen by our representatives in Washington D.C. to help move foreword legislation (The Afghan Adjustment Act) that will get more of these amazing people to America. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you at the movies ;)
A Special Thanks to my whole crew and of course Saifullah and Ismail, also our production partners Barry Olsen with InterpretAmerica, Jenna Cavelle’s HER Pictures, Michael Taylor and USC Media Institute For Social Change and No One Left Behind.
Saifullah arriving in the United States, 2016.
Saifullah’s family and Ismail as he just arrived from Afghanistan, 2017.
Saifullah’s family, San Antonio, TX. 2019.
Saifullah and I at my late-wife Melanie’s funeral, Santa Clarita, CA. 2022.