- 11 years ago
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00:301988. Two young Swiss men, Olivier Brodard and Paul Castella,
00:35went on a humanitarian mission to bring their support to the Afghan people,
00:39then at war with the Soviet Union. After crossing the Pakistani border
00:45clandestinely, they walked for 20 days,
00:48with $50,000 in their luggage, intended to help the local population.
01:01They gave the money back to the Massoud commanders,
01:05then decided to stay with the Mujahideen, to witness their daily life.
01:14For four months, they traveled in the north of the country,
01:17and are the privileged witnesses of the Afghan struggle against the Soviet occupier.
01:21Armed with their only cameras, they take a large number of clichés.
01:40In addition, Olivier daily writes a very detailed notebook.
01:44At the age of 21, for Olivier Brodard, this trip is a real revelation,
01:52and changes his relationship with the world forever.
02:01A few years later, Olivier is the victim of a terrible road accident.
02:05After several weeks in a coma, he finally wakes up.
02:24Olivier Brodard finds himself amnesiac.
02:35To rebuild his identity, Olivier dives into the past.
02:54And an event gradually resurfaces, his trip to Afghanistan.
03:54After following a training course in Menuisie, Olivier Brodard performs his military service.
04:13On this occasion, he is going to meet someone who will change the course of his life.
04:18In the army, I was a corporal for first aid.
04:25It was Azizullah, Paul Castella.
04:35He had already gone to Afghanistan in 1987 for a Swiss association to help Afghanistan.
04:44But this Swiss association sent him money by bank, by cheque.
04:51And then he said, no, I prefer to go with the money on the spot.
04:57He lived just 300 meters from me, in this area.
05:01Then from time to time I went to see him.
05:03And then I asked him if I could go back to Afghanistan, if I wanted to go with him.
05:07He told me, no problem, I'm going to leave, you can go with me.
05:14And that's how it happened.
05:25I was a member of an association that worked on the issue of Afghanistan.
05:30Be it on a cultural level, or on the level of aid.
05:33Minimal, modest, of course.
05:35It was a neighborhood association.
05:38So in fact, he was new.
05:41We already knew Paul Castella, with whom we had already had conversations on Afghanistan.
05:50And one day he arrived with his young companion.
05:57Because he knew that Michelin and I knew Afghanistan well.
06:00We had lived there for several years.
06:02We were particularly interested in what was happening there and the international context of the conflict.
06:08Olivier Brodard, we met him in 1988.
06:12Before his trip to Afghanistan, he came with Paul Castella.
06:18He wanted to introduce us to the companion with whom he was going to Afghanistan.
06:28When you consider this kind of trip, which is more of an ambition than a project.
06:34Because we don't know exactly how it's going to go.
06:36It's important to leave with someone you can trust, someone you can rely on.
06:41And he was really the ideal person.
06:56Many people from the West, as Commander Massoud said,
07:00were passing through Afghanistan clandestinely for several reasons.
07:05There were idealists who wanted to support and show their sympathy
07:12to mountain fighters fighting against the army of a superpower.
07:18There were journalists.
07:20There were humanitarians, the famous French doctors.
07:23There were also characters with less clearly defined missions and functions.
07:29Secret agents, observers and advisors of all kinds.
07:36The mission of Olivier Brodard
07:44For Paul and Olivier, the objective of the trip was clear.
07:47To bring money to Commander Massoud in order to help the population who were victims of the war.
07:53It was a risky destination. It was war. We talked about it in the media.
07:58At the time, you know, the Soviet Union was still a formidable power.
08:04And the fighting in Afghanistan was very tough.
08:231988 was a crucial year for the Afghan conflict.
08:28The Soviet troops were still in Afghanistan.
08:32The resistance was getting stronger.
08:35The Geneva Accords were to be signed that same year,
08:41foreseeing the withdrawal of the Soviet troops, but for the following year.
08:46And we no longer envisaged war or victory of the communist troops of Kabul or the Soviets.
08:57In order to prepare for this first trip out of Europe,
09:01Olivier documented the political situation and life in Afghanistan.
09:05He recorded and watched the reports and documentaries broadcast on television
09:09during the months before his departure.
09:13From time to time, I think, there were reports.
09:16I recorded them. I recorded them when it was a week.
09:19I recorded my parents so that I could, in parenthesis,
09:23have fun watching these reports on the weekend.
09:31I think...
09:34I wouldn't be 100% sure, but it's quite possible.
09:39I think that just by seeing the landscapes in the news,
09:47in the newspapers, it attracted me.
09:50Olivier is someone who prepares himself.
09:53He is someone who is organized.
09:55Indeed, the fact that he himself is watching the news,
09:59reading articles and books on the subject,
10:02is something that gives me confidence.
10:26During the last weeks of preparation,
10:29the two friends try to gather as much information as possible,
10:33while remaining as discreet as possible about the true destination of their trip.
10:38They were leaving at that time, in June 1988.
10:42They had to see us shortly before.
10:44We knew a little where they were going to go,
10:46so we were able to give a certain number of practical indications,
10:50and others to Olivier Brodard.
10:52The clandestines who were passing through Afghanistan,
10:56were passing through different places.
10:59But many young Europeans were passing through the Pakistani Chitral.
11:03I imagine there were about fifteen, twenty Europeans
11:07who left during this very, very difficult period
11:10to testify, to help,
11:14to also bring and communicate the suffering of these populations abroad.
11:20And this is what was not accepted by some.
11:23The Soviets could have spies all over the world.
11:28So if they knew that there would be foreigners,
11:31they knew, they knew that there were many foreigners
11:34from humanitarian associations who went to Afghanistan.
11:37So they could do, I don't know what term to use,
11:42they could kill or prevent the humanitarian associations from helping the Mujahideen.
11:49That's why I was told not to tell anyone.
11:52So I don't know if it's correct to say,
11:56we're going on a trip to Europe.
12:20I think for him, there was, and for me maybe to a certain extent,
12:25but for him, in any case, it's a question of simply not to alarm,
12:28to alarm the parents or friends we love and who love us,
12:32because it's not a holiday destination.
12:34I had to make a passport.
12:36And there were two or three things to do,
12:39that we couldn't do on the weekend, for a passport.
12:41I had to ask my parents to do it.
12:45And it's by doing these things that they are doubted,
12:49he's not going to go around Europe.
12:57All this period was a little secret and mysterious,
13:02since the preparation of the trip was kept secret.
13:06In the end, it was only three days before leaving
13:09that he revealed to the whole family the destination of his trip.
13:13So, Afghanistan.
13:26I would say, of course, everyone was worried.
13:31And then, finally, we were about to celebrate,
13:34since the departure was scheduled for three days later.
13:37But there was all this fear of having to leave
13:43for our parents, of having to leave their child for a certain destination.
13:49They knew I was leaving for Afghanistan.
13:53They asked me, where are you going, to Afghanistan?
13:55I said, no, why?
14:00But they followed me.
14:02My mother explained to me why.
14:04Afterwards...
14:13Afghanistan
14:22I don't remember exactly all the episodes of our Pakistani trip,
14:26but it lasted, if I remember correctly, two or three weeks,
14:30so it was long.
14:31Which actually allowed me to think.
14:34To think about different things.
14:36Indeed, we met people who had lived through the war
14:40and who spoke in a different way about the war,
14:42who spoke in a different way about suffering,
14:44as being things they had experienced themselves.
14:48And so I think it was the abstract that was gradually replaced
14:54by something more and more concrete.
14:57Arriving in Pakistan, Paul and Olivier get to know Afghan refugees.
15:02Their project suddenly becomes very concrete.
15:05Added to this are the difficult living conditions
15:08and the first doubts that arise.
15:11I still have that in mind.
15:14When I was at the Khyber Hotel in Peshawar,
15:18after a little less than three weeks,
15:20I said I wanted to go back to Switzerland.
15:22And that's when he said, no, you didn't come here for nothing,
15:25so let's go now.
15:27I mean, it wasn't easy.
15:29It was very hot, we ate differently,
15:32hygiene is still precarious,
15:35so you get sick and that kind of thing.
15:37That makes you think,
15:39would I be able to stand it?
15:42Would I be up to it?
15:45So there are a lot of questions that come to mind
15:47and that can make you doubt.
15:53During the four weeks spent in Pakistan,
15:55Paul and Olivier are looking for contacts
15:57likely to help them cross the border
16:00to go to Afghanistan.
16:01You need a network of people
16:03who allow you to avoid obstacles
16:08and who allow you to get to the right port.
16:11So, indeed, the network starts in Europe
16:13through contacts of individuals who are in contact with others, etc.
16:16We arrive in Pakistan, we meet other people
16:18who will put us in contact with other people in Afghanistan, etc.
16:21So it's a network of individuals.
16:23In Peshawar,
16:26there were brothers of fire, like Al-Masoud.
16:32He was in charge of our crossing the border,
16:36exchanging money,
16:38and then organizing to go to Afghanistan.
16:57Friday, June 3, 1988, Pakistan, Peshawar.
17:01The taxi takes us to Sadar Bazar,
17:03and more precisely to the River Hotel.
17:06Once there, I write in my notebook
17:09and learn Dari.
17:17Then, around 1.15 p.m., we take a bus
17:20that will take us to the outskirts of Peshawar
17:22to meet a friend of Paul's
17:24who knows Al-Masoud's brother.
17:26This is to prepare our mission to Afghanistan.
17:36One day, we said to ourselves,
17:38it will be today or tonight,
17:40and in June, it's night.
17:42We cross the border,
17:44because obviously it is less well guarded,
17:46and at that moment, we realize that we are not two,
17:48but that we are 10, 15, 20,
17:50that there are horses, donkeys,
17:53and all of a sudden,
17:56the convoy moves,
17:58and we pass.
18:22Peshawar, Afghanistan
18:28Crossing the border clandestinely
18:30to bring a sum,
18:32big or small,
18:34in remote mountains,
18:36is an achievement.
18:40Crossing the border
18:42and joining, for example,
18:44Masoud and the dogs in the Penshir,
18:46was not easy.
18:48First, we had to win
18:50the backward zone of Pakistan,
18:52north of the Chitral.
18:54Then, we had to cross
18:56very difficult conditions,
18:58most often on foot,
19:00sometimes on a mountain pass
19:02that is over 4,000 meters,
19:04very painful days,
19:06accidents,
19:08snow, ice,
19:10extreme slopes,
19:12sometimes risks
19:14of attack
19:16or ambush of enemies.
19:18But there is an achievement.
19:20Even crossing these difficult
19:22mountain borders
19:24is already an achievement.
19:38What is difficult
19:40in this adventure,
19:42is that we don't know
19:44when we can stop,
19:46we are wet,
19:48but we don't know
19:50when we can change.
19:52It's true that it's not a walk,
19:54you can't imagine it
19:56like a walk in the Jura
19:58or in the Alps.
20:00On a photo,
20:02I have a friend,
20:04Azizullah,
20:06who is pale,
20:08in a bad position,
20:10because he is sick.
20:12And I was there,
20:14in a kind of situation
20:16of being together,
20:18sharing doubts and tests.
20:20What is interesting is
20:22that these are mountain roads,
20:24there are not many roads,
20:26there is only one path.
20:28So we meet people
20:30who come in the other direction,
20:32or people who surpass us.
20:34And these meetings are
20:36moments when we try
20:38to get information.
20:40Where is the first stop,
20:42where is the second stop,
20:44where is the third stop.
20:46We try to get a little bit of information
20:48that can relieve
20:50this anxiety sometimes.
20:52When you are at 4000 meters altitude,
20:54in the snow,
20:56and you don't know when you will eat,
20:58it's true that these are
21:00difficult situations.
21:02Friday, July 8, 1988.
21:04We got up at 4 a.m.
21:06and left at 4.15 a.m.
21:08to cross the Diwan-e-Baba pass
21:10and make a new choice,
21:12almost without a break,
21:14until 8.30 a.m.
21:16The climb is very painful,
21:18especially without drinking and eating.
21:20We are already a long way
21:22in Afghanistan.
21:40One hour of walking
21:42and we arrive at a shelter.
21:44It is 2.15 p.m.
21:46The guides decide to spend the night there
21:48and buy a sheep for dinner.
21:50The place is idyllic.
21:52The river forms a lake
21:54with magnificent colors
21:56in the bottom of the valley.
21:58I know that we have
22:00passed through
22:02many villages.
22:04And then,
22:06one,
22:08I always remember,
22:10Dasht-e-Rewat,
22:12the first village in the Panjshir valley.
22:14Panjshir,
22:16the five lions,
22:18the five lions valley.
22:20And that's where we
22:22gave the money
22:24to the Feukong Damasud,
22:26who came
22:28to visit us.
22:38From their arrival,
22:40they give the money
22:42to the Mujahideen
22:44who redistribute it
22:46in the neighboring villages
22:48and receive the visit
22:50of the Damasud commander.
22:52I think there is
22:54undeniably a great joy.
22:56The joy is double.
22:58First, it is to have the means
23:00to buy different things,
23:02food, etc.
23:04This is a great joy.
23:06Especially when you have
23:08the people who bring it.
23:10Because we can receive bags
23:12without people accompanying it.
23:14But there, it was not only
23:16the means to survive,
23:18to think of the wounds,
23:20but it was people who brought them,
23:22people who came from outside.
23:24So, at the first joy,
23:26a second one is added,
23:28which is the impression
23:30for the people on site
23:32not to be abandoned.
23:34We had a humanitarian mission
23:36in these regions to testify.
23:38We also had this objective
23:40which was not clearly defined.
23:42We did not have a journalistic mandate,
23:44nothing like that,
23:46but it was more like
23:48let's try, let's see what we can do
23:50besides bringing help,
23:52it is also bringing something
23:54back to Europe and Switzerland,
23:56so as not to come back empty-handed.
24:04So it is under the supervision
24:06of a group of the Islamic Jamiat
24:08that Paul and Olivier will
24:10continue their journey
24:12in the north of the country.
24:14So with the group we were with,
24:16a group from Massoud,
24:18it was totally free.
24:20And they gave us
24:22extraordinary confidence.
24:24We moved where we wanted,
24:26when we wanted,
24:28we were provided with a guide.
24:30So it was extremely free.
24:32Remarkable.
24:36With him,
24:38we were under his influence
24:40to travel,
24:42to visit the north of the country.
24:44It was with his party
24:46that we went anywhere.
24:48There were always one or two
24:50Mujahideen who had to pay attention to us.
25:02Once we went up,
25:04I don't remember the name,
25:06because the Mujahideen
25:08were going to attack
25:10the communists
25:12along the road
25:14of the Salang.
25:16The Salang is the road
25:18that goes from Kabul
25:20to Tajikistan,
25:22Uzbekistan.
25:24At the time,
25:26it was the road
25:28that went to the Soviet Union.
25:32On August 15, 1988,
25:34around 2.45 p.m.,
25:36a shell explosion,
25:38just above the military post,
25:40surprised everyone.
25:46We decided to join
25:48the combat zone.
25:50We progressed from cover to cover.
25:56We were surrounded
25:58by the Mujahideen.
26:00We were surrounded by the Mujahideen.
26:10At twilight,
26:12I observe the convoy
26:14and a few guys
26:16who begin to pillage the truck.
26:18We decide then
26:20to join the road.
26:34At some point,
26:36the Mujahideen came
26:38and told us,
26:40go, go, go,
26:42because the Soviets are coming.
26:44We said,
26:46no, no, we stay
26:48to take pictures.
26:50At some point,
26:52we went up
26:54because we saw
26:56the Soviet tanks coming.
26:58Maybe a dozen meters
27:00higher,
27:02we took several pictures
27:04where the Mujahideen
27:06were talking to the Soviets.
27:08I have a picture.
27:10I think Masoud
27:12had made an agreement
27:14with the Soviets
27:16along the road to Sana'a.
27:22The Soviet retreat being planned,
27:24the Russians no longer intervene
27:26in the fighting
27:28that still opposes the Mujahideen
27:30to the Afghan communists.
27:32The latter, now alone
27:34against the resistance,
27:36deliver their last battle.
27:38Paul and Olivier thus assist
27:40When we see war,
27:42we realize the horrors
27:44that war has.
27:46We do not necessarily
27:48want to contribute to it.
27:50Taking pictures
27:52prevents us
27:54from being accomplices
27:56of these horrors.
27:58They were fighting
28:00for their own reasons.
28:02It was their country,
28:04their people who were dying.
28:06They had a reason.
28:08The Mujahideen
28:10were fighting for their own reasons.
28:14The Afghans,
28:16including those who fought regularly,
28:18were so human, so natural.
28:20As soon as they put down the rifle
28:22or even when they had the rifle in hand,
28:24they were people with whom
28:26we talked about everything and nothing,
28:28flowers, children, etc.
28:30So there was not this
28:32bellicose atmosphere
28:34that we can imagine,
28:36but we can imagine
28:38that there were people
28:40who fought for their own reasons.
29:00This different culture
29:02is also for this reason
29:04that when there are people
29:06who are unknown,
29:08the other,
29:10whom we do not know,
29:12welcomes them.
29:14It was a little more us
29:16because we were part of the NGO,
29:18I think,
29:20especially for this reason
29:22that we were very well received.
29:24I believe that Afghanistan
29:26is one of the countries,
29:28if not the only one in the world,
29:30that leaves a very strong mark
29:32because they are also
29:34fascinating individuals.
29:38They ask for our attention,
29:40they offer us a lot of themselves
29:42and the relationships
29:44we have with them are often very intense.
29:46When we arrived in Libya,
29:50from time to time,
29:52we would see a house
29:54and people would welcome us.
29:56We had to go and drink tea.
29:58As we always said,
30:00boho boho,
30:02which means sit down and eat.
30:04I tell you this
30:06because I have the photos
30:08but I don't remember
30:10the impression I had.
30:12It's a photo that reminds me
30:14of a lot of things.
30:16I don't know how to explain it.
30:18It's the memory of the photo,
30:20only of the photo,
30:22nothing else.
30:24It's the photo.
30:30Wednesday, August 24, 1988
30:32We are suffering our first rain
30:34in Afghanistan.
30:44Before I go to sleep,
30:46I listen to the news
30:48on Radio France Internationale.
30:50Police attacked gravestones
30:52in Poland, exchanging gunshots
30:54between Afghan refugees and
30:56fighters near the Afghan-Iranian border.
30:58Massacres in an African country,
31:00trouble in Sudan,
31:02and a debate on the death penalty
31:04in France after the murder
31:06of a five-year-old girl.
31:08Then, in Ljubljana, Chad,
31:10Beckenbauer called
31:12five new players
31:14for his European tour.
31:16At the beginning of November 1988,
31:18the question of returning to Switzerland
31:20became more and more present.
31:22A limit that we had set
31:24was to return before winter
31:26It's extremely difficult conditions
31:28in Afghanistan in winter,
31:30the passes are closed,
31:32so we would certainly have been
31:34potentially stuck.
31:36So it was our turn
31:38in Pakistan and Europe
31:40to mortgage if we stayed too long.
31:42It's quite possible
31:44that I didn't want to go back
31:46because it was good,
31:48but I was more than sick.
31:50It's possible that
31:52my friend Azizullah told me
31:54we have to go back because of this.
31:56We learned that
31:58a group
32:00from Massoud
32:02had returned to Pakistan
32:04and they told us
32:06to join them.
32:08As I said earlier,
32:10joining a group is safer.
32:12So joining this group
32:14was not only an advantage
32:16for security,
32:18but also an advantage
32:20for logistics.
32:22All these factors
32:24were the trigger.
32:26We learned that
32:28and we joined them.
32:30And we left with them.
32:52The journey to Pakistan
32:54lasts about ten days.
32:56The route taken by the group
32:58to which Paul and Olivier joined
33:00moves from truck to car
33:02in sometimes precarious
33:04security conditions.
33:06One thing that will remain
33:08is the development
33:10of new technologies
33:12and new technologies
33:14that will allow us
33:16to be able to
33:18There is always one thing that will remain
33:20during the month of November.
33:22We will return to Pakistan
33:24by car.
33:26And at some point
33:28we had to take cover
33:30because we were bombed.
33:32I don't know if it was friendly bullets
33:34or not, but I think it was friendly bullets.
33:36And then
33:38we come here
33:40to help you
33:42and we can't even leave
33:44without being alive.
33:46And
33:48that's just what
33:50marked me a little bit.
33:52It's what
33:54marked me
33:56when I was reading
33:58my book.
34:00And at that moment,
34:02I don't know what the impression was.
34:06Thursday, November 10, 1988.
34:08We got up at 5.30 am.
34:10After the prayer, we go to the vehicle.
34:12We had barely made 200 meters
34:14before an obus jumps to our left.
34:30After the ceasefire,
34:32we reach a safe place
34:34for lunch.
34:40The comments
34:42go hand in hand with the shots.
34:44The Shiites who accompany us
34:46say that it is their presence
34:48that explains this ambush.
34:50It is either because of them or because of us
34:52that the fire was triggered this morning.
35:04Finally, Paul and Olivier return to Pakistan
35:06and its capital, Islamabad,
35:08safe and sound.
35:10They go directly to the Swiss embassy
35:12to extend their visa
35:14and thus allow their return home.
35:30When Oli had returned
35:32from the trip,
35:34I discovered
35:36all his stories, all his photos,
35:38everything he had brought
35:40back from the trip.
35:42And also,
35:44finally, to learn
35:46that the purpose of the trip
35:48had been achieved,
35:50since they had met
35:52Commander Massoud.
35:54And I would say, for me,
35:56to discover what he had done,
35:58it was my big brother.
36:00I was more admiring.
36:02It's a bit like in a movie.
36:04So everyone was happy
36:06except at home.
36:12I think it was
36:14a big turning point
36:16in his life,
36:18in terms of discovering the world,
36:20other cultures, other religions,
36:22other human groups,
36:24but also
36:26discovering himself.
36:28What has changed is that
36:30very quickly, upon his return,
36:32he manifested the desire
36:34to travel.
36:36For him, it was a remarkable journey.
36:40Besides, he returned
36:42a few times, not to Afghanistan,
36:44but to Pakistan.
36:46It was a big step forward.
36:48And if he said, I can do it,
36:50why not pursue it, in a way?
37:04I took a lot of pictures
37:06where he was there,
37:08a fabulous little carnival.
37:10It's possible,
37:12it's quite possible
37:14that it was
37:16Azizullah
37:18who told me,
37:20it's good if you write
37:22what we do,
37:24our voyages,
37:26so that you remember
37:28where you went,
37:30what you did.
37:32And then, I think,
37:34that's why I wrote it.
37:38I rediscover.
37:42Yes, I rediscover.
37:44No, but nothing happens in my brain.
37:46People say,
37:48oh yes, oh no, oh yes.
37:50Nothing at all.
37:52I don't feel anything.
37:54It's like looking at a photo.
37:56There's only the photo.
37:58Nothing happens.
38:00Soup,
38:02soup, mutton,
38:04bread, tea, raisins,
38:06sweets, discussions, and then sleep.
38:08So it was the evening.
38:10I forget.
38:12During our first trip to Talukand,
38:14we saw
38:16a fox
38:18along the road.
38:20Why did I write that?
38:22I also thought
38:24about fox hunting.
38:30I like it.
38:34Why?
38:40Because it's part of
38:44my book
38:46about my first trip.
38:48Just for that reason.
38:54Yes.
38:56Indirectly,
38:58there's something else.
39:00But what exactly?
39:02For now, I can't say.
39:04I can't write.
39:066th February 1994
39:266th February 1994
39:28That evening,
39:30Olivier attends a support meeting
39:32in favour of a humanitarian association.
39:34We spent
39:36the whole evening together
39:38with my sister,
39:40with our sister.
39:42I think it was the first time
39:44the three of us met.
39:46There were also other people,
39:48but the three of us, brothers and sisters,
39:50gathered outside the family framework,
39:52without our parents.
39:54So we spent the whole evening together,
39:56part of the night.
39:58And then,
40:00at 9 a.m.,
40:02our mum called me
40:04to tell us
40:06the news.
40:08So,
40:10Olivier had a serious car accident.
40:12I fell asleep
40:14at the wheel of my car.
40:16And then,
40:18since I'm a humanitarian,
40:20I like wood.
40:22But a tree welcomed me,
40:24and I almost died.
40:26We went to Lausanne,
40:28to see Oli.
40:30And then, his condition was quite critical.
40:32He called them to war,
40:34or to help
40:36the people nearby,
40:38or to live
40:40another life,
40:42a different life.
40:44We risked our lives everywhere.
40:46After three weeks,
40:48I think, after three weeks,
40:50he started to open his eyes.
40:52And then,
40:54it was a feeling,
40:56I would say, of helplessness,
40:58to see him lying down,
41:00with his eyes open,
41:02his eyes empty.
41:20For everyone, it was a shock.
41:22Olivier lost his memory.
41:24And then,
41:26I would say,
41:28little by little,
41:30his condition
41:32did not require
41:34any special care.
41:36He was then transferred
41:38to the hospital in Béroche.
41:40There,
41:42he was in a,
41:44let's say, semi-comatose state.
41:46And that's when
41:48he finally woke up.
41:54It was my mother who told me,
41:56just by being in the state
41:58of semi-comatose,
42:02that he was coming to an end,
42:06she told me that I said,
42:08Allah o Akbar.
42:24I have the impression
42:26that Afghanistan
42:28exerts an extraordinary
42:30attraction, extraordinary.
42:32People who,
42:34I don't know of a country, personally,
42:36where they leave
42:38such a mark on those who have been there.
42:44Afghanistan is in me,
42:46but I don't realize it.
42:48I don't realize it, that's all.
42:50It was the first trip of my life.
42:52So,
42:54he is somewhere around here.
43:10Olivier's Afghan past
43:12gradually reappears.
43:14His relatives are the direct witnesses
43:16of this period.
43:18From the beginning, everyone continued to,
43:20I would say, communicate with him,
43:22to talk to him, I would say,
43:24everyone in their own way.
43:30When I started
43:32to see things a little bit,
43:34my mother told me,
43:38she asked me who the man was
43:40with me,
43:42and it was my father.
43:44I would say that our parents
43:46have really done
43:48a huge job.
43:50They really took care of him.
43:54Yes, they went to see him.
43:56They really did everything for him.
43:58I was, I think,
44:00the only patient who had a visit
44:02every day. So, indirectly,
44:04there is also that in their establishment.
44:06Then his condition slowly
44:08improved,
44:10I would say,
44:12at least enough
44:14to then
44:16go to a re-education center,
44:18where a program of several months
44:20was waiting for him.
44:30Olivier will spend
44:32almost nine months in the clinic,
44:34where he will have to relearn how to eat,
44:36how to speak, or how to write.
44:38It was quite difficult
44:40to see him progress at the same time,
44:42and then we always wondered
44:44how far he was going to progress.
44:46But it is certain
44:50that there is
44:52Olivier before the accident,
44:54and there is Olivier
44:56after the accident.
45:06What is emotion?
45:08I have already explained several times,
45:10for the sadness,
45:12but for me, at the moment,
45:14it is always
45:16a line.
45:20On Tuesday,
45:22at 10 p.m.,
45:24we went to bed.
45:26At 1 p.m., my mom called
45:28to say that my dad had left.
45:30The first day we went
45:32to the morgue,
45:34leaving one of the hospital secretaries,
45:36she saw me go up
45:38because the morgue
45:40was underground.
45:42She saw me go up
45:44and said to me,
45:46exactly as she said,
45:48I don't know anymore,
45:50you have an appointment,
45:52what are you doing there?
45:54No, I just
45:56paid a visit
45:58to my dad.
46:00She completely changed her face.
46:02No, it's not true,
46:04because she didn't know that my dad was dead.
46:06It's just there that
46:08there was a kind of little drop
46:10in my eye.
46:12Just that.
46:28After a year and a few months,
46:30he came home.
46:32Other things started.
46:34In fact, he had lost his memory.
46:36So our parents,
46:38we, the whole family,
46:40tried to remind him of the memories.
46:42We tried to somehow
46:44rebuild his memory
46:46through the photos,
46:48through the comments,
46:50introduce him to the family,
46:52his friends,
46:54what he had done.
46:56And for him,
46:58of course,
47:00finding his photos,
47:02the trips he had made,
47:04that was an important discovery
47:06for him.
47:26Little by little,
47:28he asked a lot of questions.
47:30Why he had gone there,
47:32what he had done,
47:34he was surprised to discover
47:36that he had gone to Afghanistan,
47:38to see everything he had brought back.
47:40Then I would say,
47:42quite quickly,
47:44he became interested in everything
47:46that was happening in Afghanistan.
47:48He found his clothes,
47:50his clothes
47:52that he had put on
47:54during his trip,
47:56that he had never left
47:58and that he still wears today.
48:14I am not a psychologist at all,
48:16but I think it seems quite normal
48:18that he takes up the identity
48:20that he has marked the most in his life.
48:22And so he tried to rebuild
48:24his identity around that.
48:26He has a lot of photos, of course.
48:28He remembers a lot of things
48:30when he sees his photos.
48:32But still,
48:34because of the notes,
48:36because of the photos,
48:38I think it was still
48:40the pillar around which
48:42his identity was built.
48:44Indeed, his notebook
48:46was one of the great discoveries
48:48of what he had done.
48:50Once, after his accident,
48:52I was amazed
48:54to read
48:56this notebook
48:58where he noted
49:00every day what he was doing.
49:02It was like,
49:04by reading that,
49:06we had the impression
49:08of being with him on a trip.
49:18This notebook
49:20was something
49:22that he discovered.
49:24After that, he also read.
49:26And I think
49:28it is something
49:30that marked him as well,
49:32to read what he had done.
49:34He wrote, he did.
49:36And I think
49:38it was very important for him.
49:40I think it is the strongest experience
49:42he has had.
49:44Not only because there was
49:46a context of war,
49:48but also because he was able
49:50to live in Afghanistan
49:52and meet people
49:54with whom,
49:56even without knowing the language,
49:58he was able to have
50:00such a close contact.
50:02It marked him so much
50:04that it was precisely
50:06what he hung on to.
50:08And then he wrote.
50:10It was the first time
50:12in his life
50:14that he wrote
50:16and we relive it.
50:18We relive it even twice.
50:20We relive it as we lived it at the time
50:22and with the experience
50:24we had afterwards.
50:26He would not have read it
50:28without the accident,
50:30but he would not have read it
50:32in the same way.
50:34That's why I think
50:36it was the most extraordinary
50:38thing that could happen to him
50:40to recover.
50:42We don't know
50:44how he was,
50:46what he had done,
50:48if it was that which
50:50rebuilt his memory
50:52or if it was him who remembers
50:54precise things.
50:56Because of the accident,
50:58several things
51:00were destroyed in my brain,
51:02but as I have said several times,
51:06Inshallah, it will come back soon.
51:14We can imagine
51:16what his convalescence
51:18would have been
51:20without this trip.
51:22What would he have
51:24focused on?
51:26I don't know.
51:28It's interesting.
51:30Olivier is a lesson
51:32in life for everyone now.
51:34In my opinion,
51:36he is very intelligent.
51:38He is very intelligent.
51:40He is very intelligent.
51:42In my opinion,
51:44he is very intelligent.
51:46Now we know exactly
51:48how far his memory goes
51:50and what he had to plan
51:52to have a normal life.
51:54He is married, he has children,
51:56he travels a lot more than us.
51:58Incredible.
52:00Even after his accident,
52:02he went to New Zealand
52:04to learn English.
52:06Now he travels the world again.
52:08He finds all kinds of ways
52:10to work, to make a living,
52:12to raise his children.
52:14I think it's extraordinary
52:16that from this relationship
52:18he had with Afghanistan
52:20for a few months,
52:22he managed to rebuild
52:24a life for the rest of his life.
52:32If there is one thing
52:34Afghanistan has done well,
52:36it is allowing Olivier de Brodard
52:38to build his own house.
52:40I think it's wonderful.
53:08A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:10A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:12A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:14A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:16A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:18A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:20A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:22A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:24A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:26A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:28A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:30A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:32A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:34A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:36A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:38A film by Olivier de Brodard
53:40A film by Olivier de Brodard
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