A year after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the future of cinema might have seemed over. But some brave female filmmakers are fighting to have their stories told on screen.
“Death in slow motion” is what Amnesty International calls what has been happening to women in Afghanistan, since the Taliban regained control of the country in August 2021. Rights that had just been won are once again drastically restricted.What does this mean for Afghan cinema? For twenty years, female directors, producers and actresses had shaped Afghan cinema – with dramas and award-winning films that attracted international attention. Now all that is to be over, if the Taliban's cultural policy has its way. They want a cinema that takes a hardline stance of “Islamic values, national traditions and Afghan culture”. But determined female filmmakers refuse to submit to the Taliban and continue to produce films, albeit in exile.
In this episode of Arts Unveiled, meet the filmmakers who are fighting to keep Afghan cinema alive.
For more information, visit the DW website.
