If you’ve seen the previous two installments “Unit” series (Movistar +) Write the third collection in your mental notebook about earrings. With him, they take us Afghanistan When the Taliban came Kabul, the capital, to restore its terror. The premiere of new episodes is coming today and we will see the strongest scenes of the whole series in them. On this occasion, the story will not be completely sweetened even though everyone knows that truth is always stranger than fiction. Alberto Marini and Galician director Dani de la Torre (Monforte de Lemos, 1975) take us to August 2021.
At the time, the characters Marian Álvarez and Michel Noher, among others, are on a mission in Afghanistan, but the movement of the Taliban separates them. They lose their signal as they experience the worst of their lives from Spain. Carla, a character from Nathalie Poza, will come to her aid from Spain in a bureaucratic chaos and fear. They went to Kabul to find out if they were alive or dead. De la Torre talks about what the shooting meant to them, which took them to Pakistan, where they had to work under escort.
Why did you decide to look to Afghanistan for this third part of “The Unit”?
When we finished the second season, we wanted to close it there. However, the Kabul problem, with the arrival of the Taliban, the problem of leaving the embassies arose. The role of the Spanish Police and Army there opened up a few fronts for us to wrap the trilogy differently. We can go to the root of the problem in one of the countries where Islamic terrorism originated.
The fact is that the situation in Afghanistan in those days was very interesting, but today there is little news about the problems of the population.
That’s why we believe it’s a great opportunity to close the series with a focus on the human part. Not only do we show everything that has happened with the refugees trying to get out, we also show the coming of the Taliban and the pain it has caused for women who have lost all their rights, such as education, the power to express themselves. … They cannot read, they cannot work; they wear the burqa. It is the cancellation of the woman. We wanted to focus there. It is terrible that the West has turned its back on them.
We forgot them very quickly.
It is what we have in this society that forgets very quickly. Now we are in a war (the one in Ukraine) and the whole world has forgotten that too. There are no demonstrations against the competition. We’re a little drugged, we’re only interested in close-ups. in the fiction industry [del audiovisual] same thing happens to us. She touches on the issues of motherhood, gender, birth a lot… It’s beautiful, but we forget that there is something beyond our borders. How is it possible for a country to return to the Middle Ages in the 21st century? You should focus there.
The locations are quite reasonable.
We couldn’t go to Afghanistan but recreated between Pakistan (Karachi), Almería and Madrid. In Pakistan, we were protected by armed people from head to toe. In places where we are not allowed to leave. Security for foreigners is complex. It was nice to be able to shoot there in such difficult places.
Afghan actors and actresses participated in this shoot, what was it like working with them given the culture shock and historical situation?
The combination of Afghan and Spanish actors was complex. Using source languages is complex. The Afghan community in Spain is small. There are quite a few limitations. We found husbands who didn’t hire their wives. Some Afghans feared retaliation from the Taliban for their families in Afghanistan. But the job they took was emotionally strong. We learned from them how Afghans live with the dangers in their country. This helped us recreate the spaces, atmosphere and emotions. It was very troublesome for all parts, including costumes and decorations… It was very difficult, but it helped us to explain it. I was left alone with the feelings of Afghans when they entered the set and told their people that it was very similar to what they experienced at the airport. [en los días cuando intentaban escapar del país]. We have the case of Afghan boxer (Shabnam Rhaim) who played the doctor in the series. He ran away because he was afraid.
How was the process of documenting the operations and actions of the Spanish side? What were your resources?
Our main advisers were the Spanish Army, the GEOs. We also talked to a police officer and reporters who were there. The truth is, it’s been a very complex documentation job. It was tough and very powerful.
What do you think is the purpose of cinema?
Above all, have fun. But “Unit, Kabul” goes further, it has a humanitarian purpose. It shows the characters’ own experiences. The goal is to try to focus on where the West has turned its back on them. We want to value the struggle of Afghans to achieve freedom. I hope it serves to raise awareness about what happened there.