Earth and Ashes (2004)
"Khakestar-o-khak" (original title)

Elderly Dastaguir and his newly deaf 5-year-old grandson Yassin hitchhike and walk, but mostly walk, as they make their way to the coal mine where Dastaguir's son Murad works. Dastaguir ... See full summary »

Director:

Atiq Rahimi

Writers:

Kambuzia Partovi, Atiq Rahimi (novel)

Stars:

Abdul Ghani, Jawan Mard Homayoun, Sher Agah

10 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Abdul Ghani	...	Dastaguir
Jawan Mard Homayoun	...	Yassin
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sher Agah
Kader Arefi	...	Fateh
Azim
Guilda Chahverdi	...	Zaynab
Mirza Hussein
Walli Tallosh	...	Mirza Qadir

Storyline

Elderly Dastaguir and his newly deaf 5-year-old grandson Yassin hitchhike and walk, but mostly walk, as they make their way to the coal mine where Dastaguir's son Murad works. Dastaguir must tell Murad that the rest of their family were all killed in a recent bomb attack.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Afghanistan France

Language:

Dari Pushto

Release Date:

5 January 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

Earth and Ashes

Filming Locations:

Pol-e-Khomri Region, Afghanistan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Afghanfilm, Les Films du Lendemain, France 3 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 102 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It is Afghanistan's official choice for the 2004 Oscar Awards, Foreign Language film category.

User Reviews

There is hardly anything to see in this film except for an old man and his grandson

Afghan director Atiq Rahimi spent his childhood days in India.After the Afghan invasion by Soviet armed forces in 1979,he was forced to quit Afghanistan to settle in France.It was there that he wrote his first novel "Earth and Ashes".This book was a huge success because of its portrayal of Afghan war.As he has some fond memories of war experienced as a child,he decided to adapt his own book for a film.The results of the finished film might not be to his liking as "Earth and Ashes" is one of the most boring accounts of a country ravaged by war.This is a film which tests viewers' patience by not giving adequate importance to the film's actors.The trouble with this film is that it is told in a haphazard manner entirely from the perspective of an old Afghan man and his young grandson.This is the reason why one gets to see them on all occasions.As the human element is missing Atiq Rahimi chose to bombard us with a dilapidated tank which is driven by this young boy. If this is not enough for sensible viewers,Atiq Rahimi shows us a woman who has been stripped of everything :money,husband and house.As there is no palpable coherency it is advised that "Khakestar-o-khak" can be labeled as a film that needs to be avoided at all costs.