Catherine James

What came first - the shrub-shaped emu or the emu-shaped shrub? #outback #emu #australia

It looks like the world might have forgotten about Afghanistan and the bold, brash US-led plan to rebuild the nation in the West’s own image. Those 20 years had surged with promise, with a proliferating media, public dialogue, women leaders, and a burgeoning generation of professionals fully equipped to carry the country forward even as so many challenges remained. Yet the US and its allies ultimately fled like fugitives, leaving behind a country in shock and the Taliban in full control. What on earth happened? Come join our US premiere in New York and a second screening in Washington DC in October where we explore this question through the incredible documentary The Watch Or The Time followed by a Q&A and refreshments. There’s still so much to understand and glean from those years, and also to hear from those who continue to witness what’s unfolding there now. Seats to NY premiere and DC screening linked in bio. The carousel pics are a random selection of my phone pics from 2016. #Afghanistan #documentary #newyork #washingtondc #nationbuilding #foreignaffairs #foreignpolicy #cinema #screening

There’s something about this place that stretches you out and settles in like a yawn. It might be the seemingly endless coastline, or the undulating deep green hinterland, but even in town there’s a sense of invitation to a more whimsical way of life. You can spot locals at a glance. Loose clothes of beige, caramel, and khaki soften their lean faces, all sunned up and lived in. Here, life feels more true to the way things should be - simple, unhurried, where passersby smile hello, and the waiter has a chat while clearing your plate. Of course, the attraction may be that I’m here for a break, far from deadlines, timetables, and pointscorers, meandering between daylight and darkness without a clock, just following the natural rhythms of my body and a couple of sweetly attached pooches. It feels like the greatest life anyone’s ever lived. Could I remain in such a cocoon? When I was 24, I told a priest I wanted a quiet life, to disappear, be nobody. He told me that was pride. I was slightly aghast and very confused - “Sorry, I don’t understand.” “You think it sounds humble,” he replied. “But wanting to be nobody comes from the same root as wanting to be somebody…” I didn’t and still don’t agree. But in these days of retreat, as I felt the contentment a couple of dogs and no demands could offer, I wondered if this was the kind of life I wished for those years ago. Yes, it kind of is. But I realised it’s not the greatest life I could ever live. It takes a level of disconnection to live truly undisturbed. I wouldn’t call it pride. But I would call it privilege - and not the kind of privilege I want to claim. I now understand, at least for me, to truly live a quiet life, I’d have to disengage. To truly be nobody, it wouldn’t only be me that disappeared, I’d have to make others disappear too. But while a life of detached ease is not the goal for me, I also know it’s not in the over-extended culture of workaholism dressed as dedication my current situation frequently falls into. That’s no less disconnected and dehumanising. The greatest life then? Neither cocooned nor enslaved but somehow connected without needing to escape. Is it out there?

When it’s Mother’s Day but you’re an auntie #auntiesbelike #auntlife Ed: Earlier version said “just an auntie” and on reflection, they’re right - I’m an auntie, and it’s everything! ❤️ my niblings

Selfie March 27, 2011. Standing on the front porch of my first home in Kabul. I’d just landed in Afghanistan for the long haul. Only a year earlier, I’d left a 12-year religious commitment that had shattered my identity and voice. In hindsight, I was claiming them back with this big move - although it would still take years and much more than one momentous decision. Did I know what I was doing? Absolutely not. I bought that ticket to Kabul like I was heading to the French Riviera. You don’t know what you don’t know, after all. I did know one thing - I had to go. It was surging in me and overriding all my fear. I felt calm as much as I felt scared. A wise man once said “Follow your bliss”. But I wasn’t sure what my bliss was. I hadn’t done much I’d enjoyed for years. I didn’t know what it felt like to be well and happy. I only really knew what it meant to be “good.” So I followed something else - excitement. It sounds terrible to say that I was excited to go where people were suffering under an obscene conflict where the lines between civilian and combatant were increasingly blurred. But I had visited Afghanistan for a month in 2010 and had discovered something else entirely different to the headlines of war. I discovered people of warmth, art, romance, poetry, joy, and intelligence delving into history and design and tradition even as the extraordinary pressure and stress of horrific violence rippled around and through them all. The Afghans I met had all been directly impacted in some way - and yet they strived, laughed, and spoke of peace and hope. It’s an oversimplification to say it was just this. There were challenges too. There were weird things and horrible people. There were frustrations and rages at some of the local practices and assumptions about me. But my overarching sense was one of deep awe. It still hasn’t left me. That awe abides today and sometimes it catches me in the throat when I see Afghanistan now. I treasure the young woman in this photo who didn’t collapse under her post-commitment confusion and avoid the world as she was tempted to do. Afghanistan would be my home and teacher for the next seven years. I don’t regret a day.

On this day (15 August), 3 years ago…the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan. As Jake put it, “it’s like the barbarians had entered the gates.” Since then women’s rights, access to education and freedom for musicians and artists have suffered greatly. But on the flip side, after the Western forces departed, suicide bombings, civilian casualties and opium production figures all dramatically dropped. As we remember all the Afghan civilians, police, teachers, medical staff, soldiers and veterans who attempted to rebuild this nation, we must never forget the Western powers and their Afghan accomplices that exploited, looted and ultimately abandoned Afghanistan. OUR GOAL is to spread this film and its message to the world. We want to take it to the big screen. These initial screenings will be crucial in launching the film. WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! today marks less than 24 hours until our fundraising campaign ends. Please make a donation today in support of our film, so we can get it seen on the big screen. ***Donate via link in bio. Thank you!***

Part of the director Travis’ motivation for making this film is a cathartic attempt at therapy for his participation in the ‘Afghan-democracy-project’. For some of our characters they accepted our invitation to set the record straight [from their perspective], while others are still trying to figure out where the West went wrong and wanted to explore that with us. Either way, we hope the plethora of perspectives and experienes in this film will offer a balanced representation of how the last 20 years unfolded. And then we leave it to the audience to make up their own minds. Upcoming screenings will be crucial to getting our film’s message out there. Please support in getting the film seen on the big screen. DONATE NOW VIA LINK IN BIO. #afghanistan #warfilm #documentary #nationbuilding #thewatchorthetime #freedom #democracyproject #taliban

Our character; armoured car salesman Fidelis points our a signifcant oversight that the West missed in the Afghan-democracy-project. The West rushed in to force feed Afghan their recipe for democracy, without considering and incorporating Afghan culture dynamics into the mix. This resulted in polarised sections of society. A lot of the time those sections of the community were the families of Taliban fighters. The West loved to say “We are winning hearts and minds”. Its hard to win the hearts and minds of people who you kill and maime with bombing campaigns. Upcoming screenings will be crucial to getting our film’s message out there. Please support in helping the film seen on the big screen. DONATE NOW VIA LINK IN BIO. #afghanistan #warfilm #documentary #nationbuilding #thewatchorthetime #freedom # peace #food #shelter #democracy

The beauty and colourful part of making a film with so many characters is that we have the opportunity to compare opinions and sit them side in the edit. Bringing people of different upbringings, culture, beliefs and ethnicities into the same conversation for the audience to digest. Upcoming screenings will be crucial to getting our film’s message out there. Please support our film to be seen on the big screen. Donate now via link in bio. #afghanistan #warfilm #documentary #nationbuilding #thewatchorthetime #womensrights #freedoms

Aman being of both Afghan and American identity has a very unique and nuanced perspective on the 20 year occupation of Afghanistan. Along with the other cast members he opens our minds to alternative views on the motivation and execution of western powers that dominated Afghanistan for two decades. Years later when Travis was writing this film The Watch or the Time, Aman was at the top of his list of Kabulians to invite to be in the cast. SUPPORT OUR SCREENINGS - YOUR DONATION WILL HELP GET THE FILM SEEN ON THE BIG SCREEN visit link 🔗 in bio. Thank you! #nationbuilding #neocolonalism #afghanistan #occupation #invasion #usforeignpolicy #thewatchorthetime

Afghanistan’s Olympic team (by proxy) is competing in Paris 2024 under the former republic black, red and green flag that is no longer permitted in their home country. The Taliban banned the tri-coloured flag after it seized power three years ago, replacing it with its black & white flag. While the inclusion of Afghanistan’s team under 🇦🇫 is welcome by Afghans from the 'project-democracy-generation' and diaspora, it is not a promising sign of the Taliban opening up. The International Olympic Committee invited the athletes without consulting the Taliban and has banned its representatives from attending this year’s Games. The Taliban for its part has refused to recognize three of the six athletes because they are women. It’s a fight that has gone on for decades. A similar scenario played out in the Sydney 2000 Olympics when Afghanistan, then under Taliban control, was not allowed to compete at all. How are we here after the West’s decades long nation-building exercise from 2001-2021? We explore this compelling story in our film The Watch Or The Time. Check it out and PLEASE HELP SUPPORT FILM SCREENINGS. Link 🔗 in bio. #democracyprojectgeneration Olympics #nationbuilding #afghanistan #athlete #diaspora #democracyproject

Women on bikes 🚴 in Afghanistan. Pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo 💪 👏 Shannon’s storytelling of a lived experience there is a must see in The Watch or the Time. Help us GET THIS FILM SEEN ON THE BIG SCREEN. Support with a donation via link in bio.