Lee Shapiro
Lee Shapiro (1949–1987) was an American documentary filmmaker. His one feature-length film, Nicaragua Was Our Home, was released in 1986. It was filmed in Nicaragua among the Miskito Indians who were then fighting against Nicaraguan government forces. In 1987, Shapiro and fellow filmmaker Jim Lindelof were killed while filming in Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War. Shapiro received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his efforts.
Life
Lee Dittman Shapiro was born in 1949 in Oklahoma, USA.
Shapiro was a member of the Unification Church and a graduate of its Unification Theological Seminary, as well as the London Film School and the University of Colorado. He also attended medical school at the University of Oklahoma.
He married Linda Krout Shapiro on July 1, 1982 at a ceremony officiated by Reverend Sun Myung Moon. His filmmaking was supported by CAUSA International, a church-related anticommunist organization.[1]
Shapiro was a film director, known for Nicaragua Was Our Home (1985). He died on October 9, 1987 in Afghanistan.
Nicaragua Was Our Home
Nicaragua Was Our Home was filmed in Nicaragua among the Miskito Indians who were then fighting against Nicaraguan government forces. It features interviews with Miskito Indian people and some non-Miskito clergy who lived among them concerning actions of the government against them, including bombing of villages, shootings, and forced removal of people from their homes.[2] The film was shown on some PBS stations[3][4] and at the 1986 Sundance Film Festival.[5]
Afghanistan
Shapiro and Lindelof spent six months inside Afghanistan traveling with the Mujahideen, documenting the plight of the Afghan people under Soviet occupation. On October 9, 1987, they were ambushed and killed outside Kabul:
The campaign to target foreign journalists had more tragic results. Two American filmmakers, Lee Shapiro and Jim Lindelof, were apparently killed by a regime attack while traveling with the mujahidin. In 1986, Lindelof had been named paramedic of the year for his efforts training Afghan medical workers. In response to protests, Kabul stated it could not "guarantee the security of foreign subjects" who enter illegally, whose presence it views as "evidence" of "external interference."[6]
The armed group they were traveling with reported that they had been ambushed by military forces of the Soviet Union or the Afghan government. However, the details have been questioned, partly because of the poor reputation of the group's leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar:
Two American journalists are believed dead in northwest Afghanistan, diplomatic and resistance forces say here. Filmmaker Lee Shapiro and his soundman, Jim Lindalos, both of New York, were killed Oct. 11, reportedly in a Soviet or Afghan government ambush, according to United States consular officials. However, the resistance group that accompanied the film team has a poor reputation among most informed observers, and doubts have arisen over whether the two Americans did indeed die in an Afghan government or Soviet attack.[7]
Legacy
In 1988, both houses of Congress passed a bill recommending that Shapiro and Lindelof, along with journalist Charles Thronton, receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[8]
In 2006 the documentary film Shadow of Afghanistan, by Suzanne Bauman and Jim Burroughs, was released. It incorporated footage originally shot by Shapiro.[9]
A wonderful documentary, 20 years in the making, is Shadow of Afghanistan. Lee Shapiro began shooting in 1986 and the film has some of the most startling yet intimate footage ever seen of a country at war. Shapiro and his soundman Jim Lindelof disappeared while filming. The footage was obtained by another filmmaking team who saw it to completion by a skeleton crew's labor of love, not least of whom is editor Mary Ann Skweres' contribution to the entire film cut. Shadow of Afghanistan has already had an Academy qualifying run and is also vying for an Independent Spirit Award nomination."[10]
In the fall of 1987, cinematographer Lee Shapiro was working with filmmaker James Lindelof on a film about political unrest in Afghanistan when they were caught in the middle of an ambush; both men lost their lives in the attack. Suzanne Bauman and Jim Burroughs were close friends of Shapiro, and they decided to make a film about Afghanistan in order to pay homage to their friend and allow his footage to be seen. Shadow of Afghanistan examines the troubled history of the nation in the 20th century, beginning with Dwight D. Eisenhower's visit to Afghanistan in 1959 on through the 1974 coup d'état, the Soviet occupation of the country, and the later rise of the Taliban, up to America's invasion following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. While documenting the violence that has torn at the nation over the years, Bauman and Burroughs also offer a glimpse of day-to-day life for ordinary Afghan people, visiting military camps, refugee centers, and small communities where folks try to live their lives despite the constant turmoil. Shadow of Afghanistan received its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.[13]
Notes
- ↑ 2 Americans Reported Killed In an Ambush in Afghanistan New York Times, 1987-10-28
- ↑ ON 13, SANDINISTAS VS. MISKITOS, New York Times, July 29, 1986
- ↑ How to Read the Reagan Administration: The Miskito Case
- ↑ Public TV Tilts Toward Conservatives, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
- ↑ Sundance Film Festival: 1986 {{#invoke:webarchive|webarchive}}, IMDB
- ↑ Craig Karp, Afghanistan: eight years of Soviet occupation Department of State Bulletin 88(2132) (March 1988). Retrieved September 22, 2023.
- ↑ Edward Girardet, Two US journalists reported killed in Afghanistan; details murky Christian Science Monitor ( October 28, 1987). Retrieved September 22, 2023.
- ↑ H.Con.Res.260.
- ↑ Shadow of Afghanistan, New York Times
- ↑ Paige Donner, In Honor of The Annapolis, Md. Middle East Peace Talks: A Short Viewing/Reading List Huffington Post (May 25, 2011). Retrieved September 22, 2023.
- ↑ Doc warriors: Suzanne Bauman sheds light on Afghanistan {{#invoke:webarchive|webarchive}}, New York Press, May 3, 2006
- ↑ Shadow of Afghanistan - Suzanne Bauman and Jim Burroughs {{#invoke:webarchive|webarchive}}, Alliance of Women Film Journalists, "It took 20 years to complete this documentary chronicling developments in Afghanistan, from Eisenhower's 1959 friendly visit, through Soviet invasion and expulsion, the ensuing civil war, to post-9/11 American bombing and occupation. The film uses extraordinary footage, some shot by slain journalist Lee Shapiro, to present the lives of a beleaguered people. (Seen at Tribeca Film Festival)"
- ↑ Shadow of Afghanistan Barnes & Noble. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Kaplan, Robert D. Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan. New York: Vintage, 2001. ASIN 1400030250
External links
- Lee Shapiro at the Internet Movie Database
- Nicaragua Was Our Home (1985) IMDb
- Shadow of Afghanistan (2006) IMDB
- Lee Dittman Shapiro by Victoria Clevenger, December, 1987.
- Lee Dittman Shapiro 1949-1987 / James T. Lindelof 1957-1987 The Historical Marker Database
- Lee Shapiro by Erwin Franzen, December 10, 1987.
- In Memoriam: Lee Shapiro — October 9th 1987 Robin Graham, October 4, 2012.
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