| Call Me Ehsaan (9 min) Afghanistan/USA |
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Director: Micah Garen
Producers: Micah Garen, Marie-Hélène Carleton
Editors: Jacob Griswold, Micah Garen
Description:
Call Me Ehsaan is a look at the United States' war in Afghanistan through the eyes of Lt. Col. John Darin Loftis, who was killed in Kabul in February of 2012 while working at the Ministry of Interior. Lt. Col. Loftis was one of only three Pashto speakers in the US Air Force. Before joining the Air Force, he had been in the Peace Corp in Papua New Guinea, where he learned to speak Melanesian Pidgin. He was deeply interested in the Afghan people and their culture, learning the poetry of Rahman Baba and reciting it at a poetry reading in Zabul. His Afghan name was Ehsaan, a name he picked out of a hat, which means "beholden under obligation." Lt. Col. Loftis wrote in a letter to his two young daughters before his first deployment to Afghanistan: "My reasons for going to Afghanistan include an honorable sense of duty to help others. If I had stayed home and not volunteered to go, I would have always wondered what I could have contributed." Lt. Col. Loftis was working as a chief plans officer with the Afghan National Police when he was shot and killed by an Afghan colleague following the burning of Korans by US soldiers.
Biography:
Micah Garen is a documentary filmmaker, photographer, writer and co-founder of Four Corners Media. He is currently working on a feature-length documentary film, Pashtunistan, which explores the United States involvement in Afghanistan.
Contact Information:
Four Corners Media
e: micah@fourcornersmedia.net
w: www.callmeehsaan.com
