KARACHI, June 18 The Last Refuge of Afghans, a 22-minute documentary about football in Chaman, was screened at the Goethe-Institute on Wednesday night.

Labelled by the West as one of the hubs of terrorism, Chaman, a rugged area of Pakistan's frontier happens to be a rich breeding ground for soccer activites, a relatively unknown fact highlighted through this documentary, the English dubbed version of which has been released at a fitting time when the country is faced with the challenge of accommodating so many IDPs from Swat.

The short film, which was first released at the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) stadium back in March, was watched and appreciated this time by a jam-packed audience.

A slide show comparing Pakistani people with people of the West preceded the documentary. People lining up for basic necessities such as food and water at the various camps here were compared with contrasting images of privileged human beings in other parts of the world, enjoying the same things but perhaps taking them all for granted.

Establishing the fact that life in this part of the world is not easy by any means, the documentary itself urges its viewers to appreciate the spirit of these people hit by war, terrorism and displacement still being able to vent their anger and frustration through the healthy sport of soccer.

That was the motivation behind the making of this film for young amateur producer Khalid Hasan Khan and director M. Waseem whose earlier attempt of documenting the saga of soccer in the slums of Karachi, specially Lyari, in the form of a 17-minute film titled An Early Sunset met with equal success when it was bought by the Dubai-based Ten Sports TV channel last year.

About The Last Refuge of Afghans, Khalid informed, “The film will find a wider audience after the English voiceovers by Mohammad Ali as well as several Pushto-speaking individuals used to keep the accents intact.”

The screening was well attended by several personalities attached with football in Pakistan, including former chairman of the Balochistan Football Assoiation and Pakisan Football Federation's selection committee Lt Col Muhammad Yunus Changezi and founding member of the Afghan Football Club and Chaman Nazim Abdul Qayyum Khadakoo, who also educated the audience about the political situation in his part of the country besides talking about the abundant football talent there.

“The Pakistan football team has some five footballers, including its captain Mohammad Essa, who all hail from Chaman. It shows our contribution to this sport here,” Khadakoo pointed out.

“The healthy sport helps us keep our heads in times of crisis while keeping our youth away from all unhealthy activities,” he added.

Also present on the occasion were Director Gooethe-Institut Dr Markus Litz, former FIFA referee Ahmed Jan, Chairman Karachi City Zonal Football Association (KCZFA) Zone IV South Nasir Karim Baloch and General-secretary Sindh Women's Football Association Sadia Sheikh.