In a remote Afghan village near Bamyan – a name made notorious when the Taliban exploded its sixth-century Buddhas in 2021 – a human drama is about to unfold. With a newfound passion for skiing, and access to minimal gear and skis fashioned from planks of wood, local children and teenagers take the sport to their hearts. Hiking up and hurtling down, a winter of competition and practice culminates in a hard-fought ski race, an event that also includes a team of young women. Without giving too much away, Champions of the Golden Valley begins as a happy story.
“This is a story of peace through sport,” explained Colorado filmmaker Ben Sturgulewski, “and skiing was a way to open the doors to understanding these people.” He and his crew spent weeks documenting the characters, many of whom are subsistence farmers whose interest in skiing developed after an initial donation of old equipment by an NGO. “I found more than I ever expected,” he said.
Following nearly two years of production and just before the short film was due for release in the United States, the launch was overtaken by events – the collapse of Afghanistan to the Taliban. Everything changed.
In the shadow of the destruction of the Buddhas and death threats from Taliban, Sturgulewski and his partner Katie Stjernholm were contacted to help people escape. They would help facilitate visas for some 500 Afghans. The girls’ ski team fled the country and, together with his wife and young children, so did the village’s devoted Afghan ski coach, Alishah Farhang.
Inevitably, Sturgulewski was forced to reconsider the project: “Was the film anything anymore?” Undertaking a full remake, the 10-minute film quickly turned into 40 minutes and, eventually, to an 80-minute rollercoaster of laughs, tender emotion, and calamity. Weaving in the challenges faced by Coach Farhang’s displaced life in Germany reflected a new reality. On the face of it, Champions of the Golden Valley is about skiing, yes. But it’s also a window into the human condition.
“The film was about connection and snow bringing people together,” he explained. “Now it’s also about the refugee experience.”
