Peshawar Waltz

In May 1985, English journalist Charlie Palmer ( Barry Kushner ) and his friend, French physician Viktor Dubois ( Victor Verzhbitsky ), went by jeep to the Mujahideen camp near Peshawar to interview captured Soviet soldiers. The journalist is interested in punitive actions in which prisoners took part. Some refuse to answer, others speak napalm and chemical weapons, and it is not clear whether the tormented soldiers speak the truth or whether they stipulate themselves in the hope of interest of Western correspondents. Suddenly, the prisoners disarm the guards and take the journalist hostage. The rebels have no plan. Having reached the walkie-talkie, they go on the air, but there is no need to wait for help. The Soviet leadership suspects that this is a provocation. The American adviser calls the representatives of the rebels for negotiations and announces a 20-minute ultimatum . Among Soviet prisoners, there is still no consensus on further actions. They kill their own. The time for the ultimatum is running out. A journalist in despair commits suicide. The prisoners hear the approach of the helicopters and they suspect that they are Soviet helicopters , but the missiles sow death both among dushmans and rebel prisoners.

• The western version of the film was called "Escape from Afghanistan" ( Escape from Afghanistan ).
• The western version is shorter than the Russian version by about 7 minutes.
• All the events in the film are commented on by the voiceover of Charlie Palmer.
• A prologue was added, mounted from documentary videos, which demonstrated the tests of various military equipment.
• An episode was cut from the beginning of the film, where Charlie and Victor are waiting for the truck to be fixed. The main plot of the western version begins from the moment where they are already approaching the Mujahideen camp.
• The scene where Charlie Palmer interviews the captives is slightly changed: the Soviet soldiers come to answer the journalist's questions in the wrong order as in the Russian version.

• Grand Prize at the IFF San Remo.
• Kinotavr , 1994. Nomination "Grand Prize".
• Karlovy Vary, 1994. Winner in the nomination "Best Director" ( Timur Bekmambetov , Gennady Kayumov ). The film also participated in the Crystal Globe nomination.
• The first prize at the student competition "Saint Anna" in Moscow (1994).
• Nika , 1996 Nomination “The best sound editing” ^[1] .

The film is little known in Russia. In an interview, Timur Bekmambetov talked about the beginning of the 90s and mentioned the film:

According to many veterans of the Afghan war, Peshawar Waltz has become one of the most piercing and truthful films about the events in Badaber . ^[3]

In 2002, a slightly remounted version of the film entitled “Escape from Afghanistan” ( Eng. Escape from Afghanistan ) ^[4] was released for the American video market.

• The uprising in Badaber camp