Benjamin Gilmour is a German Australian author and filmmaker, best known for writing and directing the film Jirga (2018).
Gilmour became a paramedic around 1999. [1] [2] He has worked in public health development in low-middle income nations. [3]
Gilmour has written several non-fiction books. [1] [4]
Warrior Poets: Guns, Movie-making and the Wild West of Pakistan, first published in 2008, [5] is an account of the making of his feature film, Son of a Lion, but it also describes much about the Pashtun people of the North-West Frontier Province and in particular the town of Darra Adam Khel, where guns are made. [6] [7]
Paramedico - Around the World by Ambulance (2012), a "collection of adventures by Australian paramedic Benjamin Gilmour as he works and volunteers on ambulances around the world". [8] [9]
The Gap: A paramedic's summer on the edge (2019) is a memoir recounting incidents in a group of paramedics' work in the lead-up to Christmas one summer. [10] [11]
Cameras and Kalashnikovs: The Making of Jirga (2018) is about making the film Jirga in Afghanistan. [12]
He is also the author of an illustrated book for children The Travel Bug (2011), and two volumes of poetry, The Song of a Hundred Miles and Night Swim. [13]
Son of a Lion (2007) was his first film, a documentary filmed in Pakistan as he lived among the Pashtun tribes of the Northwest Frontier Province. [14] [15] [16]
Paramedico (2011) is another documentary film, released at the same time as his book of the same name. It was nominated for the Foxtel Best Documentary Award at the Sydney Film Festival. [17] [18]
Gilmour wrote and directed the 2018 film Jirga , [19] [20] Son of a Lion (2007) [21] [22] [23] and Paramedico (2012). Jirga won the inaugural AACTA Award for Best Indie Film at the 8th AACTA Awards in 2018 [24] [25] and the CinefestOZ Film Prize. [26] [27] It was selected as Australia's entry to the 91st Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film section. [28] [29]
Year | Title | Ref |
---|---|---|
2008 | Son of a Lion | Screenwriter & director |
2012 | Paramedico | Director [32] |
2018 | Jirga | Screenwriter & director |
Pashtuns, also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are a nomadic, pastoral, Eastern Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. They historically were also referred to as Afghans until the ratification of the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan, which stated anyone with citizenship is Afghan, and the 1970s after the term's meaning had become a demonym for members of all ethnic groups in Afghanistan.
A jirga is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic groups who are influenced by them in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Bannu also called Bana and Bani is a city located on the Kurram River in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the capital of Bannu Division. Bannu's residents are primarily members of the Banuchi tribe and speak Banuchi (Baniswola), a dialect of Pashto which is similar to the distinct Waziristani dialect. The residents regardless of their tribes are commonly called Banusi, Banuchi or Banisi.
Pashtun diaspora comprises all ethnic Pashtuns. There are millions of Pashtuns who are living outside of their traditional homeland of Pashtunistan, a historic region that is today situated over parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. While the (erstwhile) Pashtunistan is home to the majority of Pashtun people, there are significant local Pashtun diaspora communities scattered across the neighbouring Pakistani provinces of Sindh and Punjab, particularly in their respective provincial capital cities of Karachi and Lahore. Additionally, people with Pashtun ancestry are also found across India; particularly in Rohilkhand, a region in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh; and in the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Outside of South Asia, significant Pashtun diaspora communities are found in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Iran, Australia, Canada, and Russia.
Osamah Sami is an Australian stage and screen actor, writer, and stand-up comedian, born in Iran of Iraqi origin. He is known for his book Good Muslim Boy, and the film Ali's Wedding.
Son of a Lion is a 2007 Australian-Pakistani drama film set in Darra Adam Khel, in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The film tells the story of Niaz Afridi, a Pashtun boy who wants to go to school instead of carrying on the family business of manufacturing firearms. The director, Benjamin Gilmour, is an Australian former paramedic; Son of a Lion is his first film. It was filmed in the area around Darra with the cooperation of local residents. The actors are local non-professionals and much of the dialogue is improvised. It has received generally positive reviews. The film is in Pashto with English subtitles.
Mark Leonard Winter is an Australian actor, known for performances in film, television and on stage.
A paramedic is a healthcare professional who works predominantly in the pre-hospital and out-of-hospital environment.
The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement is a social movement for Pashtun human rights based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. It was founded in May 2014 by eight students in Dera Ismail Khan. On 1 February 2018, the name of the movement was changed from "Mahsud Tahafuz Movement" to "Pashtun Tahafuz Movement."
Dying to Live (2018) is an Australian feature-length documentary film directed by Richard Todd. It reveals how Australia lags behind similar countries in organ and tissue donor registration numbers, and features Australian organ and tissue donors and recipients from Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland.
Jirga is a 2018 Australian drama film written and directed by Benjamin Gilmour and produced by John Maynard. It stars Sam Smith as a former Australian soldier returning to Afghanistan to seek forgiveness from the family of a man he killed while serving in the war. The film was shot under extreme circumstances, in dangerous locations and with assistance from the local people of Afghanistan. Deemed too politically divisive to be produced in Pakistan the film moved production at the last minute to Afghanistan and shot in one of the most dangerous regions in the world, Kandahar Province.
Standing Up for Sunny is a 2019 Australian film comedy written and directed by Steven Vidler, and starring RJ Mitte, Sam Reid and Matt Nable. It won the 2020 AACTA Award for Best Indie Film.
Rams is a 2020 Australian comedy-drama film directed by Jeremy Sims, written by Jules Duncan, and starring Sam Neill, Michael Caton, and Miranda Richardson. It is based on the Icelandic drama film Rams (2015) by Grímur Hákonarson.
Nitram is a 2021 Australian biographical psychological drama film directed by Justin Kurzel from a screenplay by Shaun Grant. The film revolves around the life and behaviors of a mentally distressed young man called "Nitram", and the events leading to his involvement in the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania. The film stars Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis, Essie Davis and Anthony LaPaglia.
CinefestOZ is an annual film festival that takes place over five days in the South West region of Western Australia. IndigifestOZ is a section of the festival devoted to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander filmmakers. The CinefestOZ Film Prize of A$100,000 is the richest film prize in the country.
The inaugural meeting of the Pashtun National Jirga, also known as the Bannu Jirga, was held at Mirakhel Cricket Ground in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 11 to 14 March 2022 to discuss the critical issues faced by the Pashtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It was attended by about 5,000 delegates, including politicians, tribal chiefs, researchers, clerics, religious minorities, women and human rights activists.
Monolith is a 2022 Australian science-fiction thriller film directed by Matt Vesely from a script written by Lucy Campbell, and produced by Bettina Hamilton. Described as high-concept science fiction, it stars Lily Sullivan, the only on-screen actor in the film, as a journalist uncovering a mystery.
Moon Rock For Monday is a 2020 Australian independent film written and directed by Kurt Martin.
The AACTA Award for Best Indie Film is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) since 2018.
The Rooster is a 2023 Australian comedy drama film directed by Mark Leonard Winter and starring Hugo Weaving, Phoenix Raei, and John Waters.