«ZUGZWANG OF OBER LIEUTENANT BRUNO THEVS» Page #4

The TF-47 group is blocked by Taliban deterrent fire, remains in place.

21. INT. OBERST JUNG'S OFFICE — DAY.

TITLE:
TF-47 HEADQUARTERS. OBERST JUNG'S OFFICE

Bruno, in a dusty military uniform, with a dirty face, enters the office of Oberst Jung.

BRUNO:

(to Oberst Jung)

Mr. Oberst, the Taliban attacked our convoy on the Kunduz-Baghlan highway. Part of the equipment was burned; the drivers were killed and there are wounded. Two large-capacity trucks full of fuel were stolen in an unknown direction. The attack confirmed the authenticity of the intelligence information. A wounded Taliban who took part in the attack on the convoy was detained in hot pursuit. According to his testimony, the organizers of the attack were identified, and they were taken into operational investigation.

OBERST JUNG:

(to Bruno)

Ober-lieutenant! Urgently send a request to the headquarters of the North group in Mazar-I-Sharif for aerial photography of the area. It is necessary to establish the location of the stolen equipment!

BRUNO:

(in a statutory tone)

Yes, Mr. Oberst!

22. EXT. KUNDUZ–BAGHLAN HIGHWAY — DAY.

When crossing the rapidly flowing narrow river Kunduz-dara, the tankers get stuck in the gravel-sand soil. The Taliban brought two Soviet tractors "Belarus" with cables from the nearest village of Omar Kheyl to pull out the tankers.

They cling to the tankers with cables. The Taliban are getting rid of fuel in tankers, inviting Afghans from the village to replenish their personal diesel reserves.

A long queue of local farmers with cans and other containers has accumulated near the tanks.

23. INT. OBERST JUNG'S OFFICE — DAY.

Bruno, in his field uniform, knocks on Oberst Jung's office.

BRUNO:

May I come in, Mr. Oberst?

Oberst is sitting at the table.

OBERST JUNG:

Come in, Ober-lieutenant!

What news?!

Bruno comes to the table.

BRUNO:

(briskly)

We have received pictures from the location of the tankers. They got stuck in the sandy soil of the mouth of the Kunduz-dara River near the village of Omar Kheyl in Chahar-dara County.

(passes the pictures)

See, here they are. The equipment is surrounded by a crowd of civilians.

OBERST JUNG:

(in a commanding tone)

Urgently send this to the aviation support headquarters, let them immediately strike at their location!

Bruno is slightly taken aback.

BRUNO:

But there are civilians there, Herr Oberst! There will be great sacrifices!

OBERST JUNG:

(dissatisfied, in a strict tone)

What kind of sentimentality

Ober-lieutenant! There's a war here!

(pause)

You seem to have forgotten what happened to your father?!

(disgustedly)

Bruno takes the photographs and leaves Oberst Jung's office.

24. EXT. MOUNTAIN VILLAGE — DAY.

TITLE:
HOST-VA-FERENG, AFGHANISTAN.

A small adobe house on the outskirts of an Afghan village, three people are sitting on a carpet in the courtyard in front of the entrance to the dwelling, recording interviews. The interviewee is a former mujahid of the Afghan War (1979-1989), one—armed ISMATULLAH.

The interviewer, reporter OTTO Greenberg, holds a voice recorder and microphone in different hands and asks Ismatullah questions.

An Afghan translator from Dari and Pashto, SULTAN MUHADI, translates Otto's questions to Ismatullah and simultaneously records the interview on a video camera.

ISMATULLAH:

(with importance)

I fought in the detachment of the field commander Kazi Kabir Marzban, an associate of Ahmad Shah Massoud.

(pause)

I will tell you the story of a dramatic battle in the mountain range of Mugulan, Cholbahir and Tali Gobang in June 1986. Our detachment inflicted significant damage to Soviet landing groups landed by helicopters at the heights closest to our positions. It so happened that our firing points were above the Shuravi landing site. This gave us a significant advantage in battle. For several hours we methodically hit them with fire. Despite their difficult situation, the Shuravi fought stoutly. At the place where the Shuravi stacked their dead and wounded, under boulders, I found this.

Ismatulla hands Otto a notebook stained with dried blood and two photographs enclosed in it.

ISMATULLAH:

They belonged to a Soviet soldier.

Otto opens a brown leather notebook with sticky pages, takes out two photographs. On one, a beautiful girl, on the other – against the background of a Soviet combat helicopter, six comrades were standing in an embrace. Both photos are signed in Russian.

25. EXT. YAKUB KHAN'S TEAHOUSE — DAY.

TITLE:
KUNDUZ. YAKUB KHAN'S TEAHOUSE.

Otto takes a taxi to the teahouse on the "Kunduz circle", the central square of Kunduz with a lot of shops, doucans, eateries and service points.

Positive one-eyed YAKUB KHAN with a black eye sling sees Otto at the entrance, breaks into a smile, fervently puts his palm to his heart, offers to enter with a wave of his hand.

26. INT. YAKUB KHAN'S TEAHOUSE — DAY.

Otto, entering the teahouse, loudly greets the visitors sitting inside — AsSalamu alaikum!

Otto makes an order to Yakub Khan on the move, follows him to the back of the hall. There he chooses a corner couch under the cooling air conditioner, takes off his shoes, climbs onto the couch covered with a felt mat, stretches his legs. Otto is very tired.

In the cramped oblong space of the hall, Otto sees three fans slowly rotating the blades from the ceiling, driving air flows. People in Afghan national clothes and traditional headdresses are eating and drinking tea on the couch, peacefully talking. On the wall is a large portrait of the smiling Mujahideen leader Ahmad Shah Massoud.

The guests are served by the son of Yakub Khan - ZALMAY, a sporty dark—skinned youth of thirteen with an embroidered kandahari (Pashtun skullcap with a domed slit in front), black wavy hair. Zalmay wears a patterned vest over a traditional Afghan shirt (perukhan, an Afghan national costume in the form of a knee-length shirt with trousers).

Otto sprawls on a wide couch resting and waiting for the order to be delivered. Contemplating the street hustle, medieval faces in traditional clothes, brisk market bargaining, donkey and horse-drawn carriage, chaises, carts, a caravan of two-humped giant camels arriving from afar, loaded with huge bales of goods, the noise of incessant street hubbub is heard. Otto takes out the notebook and photographs handed over by Ismatulla, looks at a group photo with six Soviet soldiers. Then puts the photo back in the backpack. He leans back, enters a doze.

Zalmay brings otto on a tray a sizzling lamb rib kebab, just removed from the grill, a hot tandoor tortilla, a pot of green tea. Otto does not react; he continues to doze.

27. EXT. THE SHORE OF A SMALL RIVER — DAY.

TITLE:
OMAR KHEYL VILLAGE, KUNDUZ PROVINCE.

Two F-15ES fighter-bombers of the ISAF forces appear in the sky, fly over 2 German tankers hijacked by the Taliban and hundreds of civilians of the village of Omar Kheyl, who are waiting in line to fill the tanks with diesel fuel. They are bombing people and tankers.

Bloody human body parts and torn clothes are scattered at the site of the airstrike.

The dead and wounded residents of the village are lying. The groans of the wounded are heard. A swarthy, bearded Afghan is crawling with his legs torn off.

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