Synopsis
Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi is a feature-length documentary that follows the relationship between an Afghan interpreter and his client, American journalist Christian Parenti. This intimate portrait of two colleagues shifts dramatically when Ajmal is kidnapped along with an Italian reporter. The situation goes from bad to worse as foreign powers pressure for fast results, the Afghan government bungles its response and the specter of Taliban power looms in the background. What follows is the tragic story of one man forgotten in the crossfire: a brutal allegory of the proud land and perilous misadventure that is Afghanistan.
Director's Bio
Ian Olds is a director of both narrative and documentary work. He and Garrett Scott directed the feature documentary Occupation: Dreamland, an in depth portrait of a squad of American soldiers deployed in the city of Falluja, Iraq. Occupation: Dreamland was short-listed for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and won a 2006 Independent Spirit Award. Olds’ short fiction films have played at numerous festivals in the US and abroad including Sundance, Los Angeles and Rotterdam in 2007. He received a 2005 Princess Grace Award, a 2006 Media Arts Fellowship sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation and was recently named one of the 25 New Faces Of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine. Ian received his MFA from Columbia University’s Film Division in 2006.