Angels Are Made of Light

Synopsis

Conceived as a cinematic ode to Afghan civilians, filmed over three years, ANGELS ARE MADE OF LIGHT traces the lives of young students and their teachers at a school in the old city of Kabul. Interweaving the modern history of Afghanistan with a present-day portrait of a working-class neighborhood, the film offers an intimate and nuanced vision. Moving seamlessly through the points of view of multiple characters—three brothers, their friends, parents, male and female teachers, an elderly cleaning woman at the school—the film allows their thoughts and ideas to play out on the grand stage of Kabul. Their memories of the Afghan kingdom, the communist revolution and the civil war are brought to life through rare 35mm archival material unearthed in Afghanistan.

Director Biography

James Longley was born in Eugene, Oregon in 1972. He studied Film and Russian at Wesleyan University and VGIK in Moscow. His student documentary, PORTRAIT OF BOY WITH DOG (co-directed with Robin Hessman), won a Student Academy Award. His first feature documentary film, GAZA STRIP, explores the second Palestinian uprising. His celebrated documentaries IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS (nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2007, winner of jury prizes for Best Documentary Directing, Cinematography, and Editing at Sundance Film Festival) and SARI’S MOTHER (nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject in 2008) chronicle people living in the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. Longley is a MacArthur Fellow.