Seamus Murphy to release documentary The Beautiful and the Damned

Renowned Irish photojournalist Seamus Murphy is set to release a documentary on an Afghan family forced to run from war, titled The Beautiful and the Damned.

The film tells the story of the Ba Deli family, who flee from war only to face more challenges as they struggle to rebuild their lives in exile.

The Beautiful and the Damned is produced by BAFTA-winning Irish producer David Rane for Soilsiú Films, in co-production with Catherine Siméon of Faites un voeu (France) and Heino Deckert of Ma.ja.de (Germany).

Murphy, who worked as a photojournalist in Afghanistan in the 1990s, spent many years covering the bloody conflict in Kabul. There, he met the Ba Delis, who are one of the few families still living among the ruins of Kabul's old town. Two of their six sons had died in the fighting, and another lost his leg in a rocket attack.

The film builds on Murphy’s extensive archive of photographic and video material, having chronicled the lives of the Ba Deli family, both during the war and in exile. The documentary examines how their homeland has changed in the last three decades.

"We hear about refugees. We hear about their stories in newspaper articles and TV reports," "You do get a glimpse of what they’re going through," Murphy told Variety.

"But I think with this, it is that emotional side of their lives as real individuals. I’m trying to portray them…as individuals that you sympathise with, and you get to know and you get to like. And you’re rooting for them."

The Beautiful and the Damned will be screened at this year's Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival in Greece, running March 5-15.

Known for productions like A Dog Called Money with PJ Harvey, and The Peculiar Sensation Of Being Pat Ingoldsby, Seamus Murphy has won seven World Press Photo awards, including two for portrait photography for his work produced in Afghanistan, Gaza, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, Peru, the UK, and Ireland.

Read our 2022 interview with Seamus Murphy here.