Battle of Bakara: Filmmaker talks about stalled documentary

Filmmaker Ahmad Yazid Ahmad Puad has long wanted to make a documentary depicting the bravery of the Malaysian peacekeeping force, Malbatt 1, in the operation to rescue the 70 trapped US Rangers in the Bakara Market area in Mogadishu, Somalia, on the night of Oct 3, 1993.

Although the recent film “Malbatt: Misi Bakara” received some good reviews for its action scenes, some military veterans are upset by Malaysian soldiers’ depiction in the film.

While many might argue that Malbatt is a film that is inspired by real events, the filmmaker took more than a little creative license to bring audiences into the cinemas, despite claiming 90 percent accuracy.

As such, it is possible that the bravery of the Malaysian soldiers during this bloody battle has yet to be depicted accurately.

Documentary filmmaker Yazid, CEO and creative director of Rack Focus Films, set out to do just that years ago but never completed the task.

“I stumbled upon this topic from some military officers when I was producing my first documentary for History Channel Asia in 2008 about the Al-Maunah incident (Al-Maunah- The Malaysian Arms Heist).

"I was amazed by the heroic Malaysians who were part of the rescue mission. I knew this topic was going to be my next big production,” recalled Yazid.

Obtaining permission

He put in the work and got the permission required to pursue the real story. The producers even released a teaser for the film in 2014 called “Battle of Bakara - The Lost Platoon”.

Yazid worked on this documentary from 2011 to 2015, but sadly it remains in the vaults.

“I managed to get support from the Prime Minister's Office for my project because my research was endorsed by the then-deputy commander of Malbatt 1, Unsom II, Mohd Rodzi Baharom.

“It took me about a few months to trace and interview as many Malbatt officers and personnel as possible. I would say I met more than 15 of those who were involved and recorded their stories.

“In 2013, I was granted permission by the United States Department of Defense (DOD) to produce the documentary. I went to a few military camps such as Fort Knox in Kentucky to interview a few personnel who were involved in the rescue mission,” said Yazid.

He added that these were not the US Rangers but those from the 10th Mountain Regiment who were in the armoured personnel carrier (APC) with the Malaysian officers.

Yazid explained that getting to this stage of research required a lot of work from his side and their connection with international producers helped them a lot.

“In 2014, John Smithson, one of the producers of the Oscar-nominated ‘127 Hours’ even showed interest in being the executive producer of the feature documentary,” Yazid stated.

The trailer of the documentary was released in 2014, which usually means that the full film is on the verge of being released but that did not happen.

A fatal loss

“I visited the US four times for the project. I acquired a lot of great untold stories from the former US soldiers who were fighting with the Malaysians that night. I was following the story of this Delta Force commando, who was the first person to get to crash site A.

“He was in the Malaysian APC that was headed by Lieutenant Khairul Anwar (now a major general in the military). His story was a remarkable one because his bravery that night was even remembered by Khairul.

“Not much info was available about him and unfortunately, when I arrived in Colorado Springs in the winter of 2015, I got to know from his subordinate that he had passed away. The story ended with him.

"I could not connect the dots and it was quite frustrating for me. So around months later, I decided to stop researching and focused on other projects instead,” Yazid said regretfully. His company went on to produce other TV series and documentaries over the years.

When asked if there was any way things could get back on track and eventually get the documentary released, Yazid replied in the affirmative, adding he needs funding to restart the project.

“The stories that I have compiled from both the Malaysian and American sides are amazing. They are stranger than fiction. It could also be made into a feature film that is 99 percent based on the true incident,” Yazid enthused.

He admits not to have watched “Malbatt: Misi Bakara” but fears that based on some comments made by commanders of the armed forces who are in the know, the filmmakers did not do a good job with research.

READ MORE: Local patriotic movie sets ‘Black Hawk Down’ legend straight

“Based on my research, there were no Americans who got yelled at that night. The Malaysians got yelled at by them because they were not allowed to go into the Bakara Market.

“They were not familiar at all with the roads and it was very dark that night, with no moonlight to guide them. So this frustration was understandable and regardless, after that night, one of the American personnel who yelled at the Malaysian team felt it was a miracle that there was only one casualty from our side.

“He said if they were in that kind of circumstance, they would have suffered more casualties. The incident changed his perception of Malaysian personnel,” explained Yazid.

One would argue that the filmmakers had to take cinematic liberties to sell the movie to the masses but Yazid did not agree.

“Filmmakers have to be careful with telling personal stories of others especially when the story involves the loss of lives. People can get sensitive which is completely understandable and justified.

"As a documentary filmmaker who was trained and produced many documentaries for international channels and platforms, my team and I are quite knowledgeable in handling such stories. This was because of years of experience,” Yazid argued.

He lamented that many local filmmakers are not well trained in research and unaware of how to handle certain subjects carefully and diplomatically.

“Any filmmaker can claim that their film is a work of fiction and they have freedom in telling it the way they want to. However, they can't do that when the story is using the name or incident of an actual well-known history.

“’Black Hawk Down’, the US-produced movie is based on the actual incident with some cinematic liberties taken in merging some characters, inserting some banter among the military personnel and omitting some incidents.

“But they did not make up any story that was not relevant or inappropriate,” Yazid stressed.

Highlighting the truth

Some might also argue that not much was done by either the armed forces or the Defence Ministry to highlight the brave actions of our soldiers in Somalia.

This could be why some believe what was shown to them in films such as “Black Hawk Down” (which completely sidelined the Malaysian soldier's contribution) and “Malbatt: Misi Bakara”.

Yazid disagreed with this argument, saying that the Defence Ministry’s job is to administer the military and pushing the hero stories of our armed forces is not their main duty.

“So it is up to filmmakers like me to do it with their support. The local audience also needs to be more aware of what is being presented to them and not blindly accept a claim by any filmmaker about the authenticity of his or her story,” he added.

Oct 3 marks the 30th anniversary of the battle in Somalia and Yazid believes there are a lot of untold stories of this incident that are just waiting to be told.

ALSO READ: Battle of Mogadishu, 30 years on

“I was in awe when I was listening and collecting the stories throughout the years of my research. You can't make up these stories.

“It is a story of faith, reconciliation, understanding and unexpected heroes. It is about two different sets of people having to work together despite their differences but they came out quite well.

“As much as we need to celebrate our local heroes who fought through the night to get to the trapped US Rangers, we need to also thank those Americans who had guided, protected and helped the Malaysians who were not familiar with such fierce battle,” said Yazid.

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