In October of 2012, Mo Scarpelli and Alexandria Bombach travelled to Kabul thinking they would make a short film about freedom of press (or lack thereof) in Afghanistan.
They were only there for two weeks, but “The story blew up in our faces,” said Scarpelli. What they saw was an emerging free press in the war-torn country, and a handful of Afghan journalists behind it.
Most of these reporters and photographers are people that trained themselves and learned from the international press corps, explained Scarpelli, but as the troops pull out, so does the international media, and it is up to local journalists to keep coverage of Afghanistan in the press.
Now Scarpelli and Bombach are going back to film Frame by Frame, a feature-length documentary backed by a successful Kickstarter campaign, about the recent revolution in Afghan photojournalism. The film will focus on four photojournalists, each from a different background.

Photojournalist Najibullah Musafer in a still from the Frame by Frame trailer.
Before trying Kickstarter, Bombach sold her car, and dipped into her savings to get the money for the trip to film the trailer, which cost between $12,000 and $15,000. But they could not fund the second production trip on their own. “We wanted to do a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds for the film independently, but also to connect with a unique and invested audience; Kickstarter is great for that,” says Scarpelli. “It was simply too much money to fund it ourselves, the fixer fees alone were too expensive.”
Their Kickstarter campaign asked for $40,000, but they received $70,301. Had they not gotten the extra thirty thousand dollars, they would have had to do further fundraising after their return. Instead, they’re in “full production mode.”
The initial asking amount, the first $40,000, will pay for travel, five weeks in Kabul, equipment, translators and fixers. The extra funds are allowing them to seek legal counsel during production, instead of after the film is done. Looking down the road, it should also be enough for an assistant editor and a sound engineer.
On their return trip to Kabul, they will also take new shooting gear, which is likely to include two Canon 5-D Mark III and accessories. Though the trailer was shot on Canon C300s, the filmmakers decided to go for the DSLRs, which they are more comfortable using and are less expensive.

Photojournalist Farzana Wahidy in a still from the Frame by Frame trailer.