Jihad is a 1986 documentary film produced and directed by Jeff B. Harmon

Jeff B. Harmon

Jeff B. Harmon is an American film director, writer and producer. He is also an actor, photographer and song writer.As a journalist and war correspondent, he penetrated the Nazi underground in Paraguay while searching for Dr...

 about the Soviet war in Afghanistan

Soviet war in Afghanistan

The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...

 as seen through the eyes of Haji Latif, 'The Lion of Kandahar’, and his group of Islamic holy warriors.

Harmon made six illegal, clandestine trips into Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 in order to film the Mujahideen

Mujahideen

Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...

 in Kandahar

Kandahar

Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...

 and other provinces.

When Harmon and his cameraman, Alexander Lindsay, were with Haji Latif's fighter, the Soviet and Afghan forces found out about and launched an unsuccessful operation to stop the making of the film, resulting in the deaths of 27 mujahideen.

The film won the Royal Television Society Journalism Award, the ACE Award, the Blue Ribbon at the American Film and Video Festival, and CINE's Golden Eagle.

His film was a Duce Films International Ltd. Production for the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 and National Geographic Explorer. It runs 52 mins.

Jihad is part of Harmon's "Afghan Trilogy", which also included the documentaries Afgan

Afgan (documentary)

Afghan: The Soviet Experience is a 1989 documentary film produced and directed by Jeff B. Harmon about the Soviet war in Afghanistan.It tells the stories of officers and soldiers serving in various units of the Soviet Armed Forces just prior to their withdrawal from Afghanistan, after the signing...

and Warlord of Kayan

Warlord of Kayan

Warlord of Kayan is a 1989 documentary film produced and directed by Jeff B. Harmon.The film tells the story of Sayed Jafar Naderi, the son of an Afghan Ismaili leader, who used to be a member of a hippie motorcycle gang in Allentown, Pennsylvania and later became a provincial governor and chief of...

.