Ariana (2003)

Ariana tells the story of a film crew that sets out to visit the Pandjsher Valley in Northern Afghanistan. Described in classic Persian poetry as a ‘paradise garden,’ the impenetrable nature of the valley and its lush, fertile landscape have set it apart from the rest of the country and encouraged a history of independence and resistance. Hugonnier’s film considers how the specificities of a landscape help to determine its history. After the crew is unable to film the valley from a vantage point in the surrounding Hindu Kush mountains, Ariana becomes the story of a failed project that prompts a process of reflection about the ‘panorama’ as a form of strategic overview, as a cinematic camera move, and its origins as pre-cinematic mass entertainment.