What does a war look like to the people who planned it, fought it and lived under it? The Longest War, a 2020 documentary directed by Greg Barker, puts that question to witnesses of America's involvement in Afghanistan, the longest war in United States history.
What is The Longest War about?
Greg Barker builds the film from first-hand testimony instead of commentary from a distance. Those who speak come from very different positions: U.S. intelligence operatives, soldiers and members of their families, Afghan officials, journalists who covered the conflict, and senior figures from government and the military. Each describes the part of the story they saw for themselves. Laid side by side, the interviews trace American involvement in Afghanistan through personal experience, covering the choices made, the work carried out on the ground and the cost carried home afterwards. The emphasis falls on the human drama behind the policy, and the film lets its witnesses give their accounts in their own words, often with visible emotion.
About the cast
The film is directed by Greg Barker. Lisa Maddox and Breshna Musaza are the two participants named in the credits, appearing as themselves among the many interviewees. As a documentary it has no actors in the usual sense; the people on screen are speaking about their own experiences.
Context & significance
Interview-led documentaries of this kind depend on access and on range. A single perspective can explain one corner of a long conflict, but placing intelligence officers, soldiers, families, local officials and reporters in the same film allows viewers to compare accounts and notice where they meet and where they differ. The Longest War takes that approach to a subject that spans many years and touched a very large number of lives in both countries. The film is a production of the United States, runs about 82 minutes, and was released in 2020, while the war it describes was still continuing. It records what its participants say and leaves conclusions to the audience. Among viewers it has been well received as a documentary.
Watching The Longest War on Ktime
The Longest War is available on K-Time with a Persian dub, so Farsi-speaking viewers can follow the interviews in their own language. Reading this page is open to all; playback requires a K-Time account login. The service is designed for the Iranian diaspora and offers a full Farsi interface.