Immediately after the US pullout from Afghanistan, Taliban forces occupied the Hollywood Gate complex, which is claimed to be a former CIA base in Kabul.
A poignant story about overcoming our demons and finding hope through darkness. Haunted by the affects of PTSD induced by fighting a war, the physical injuries that led to copious amounts of opiates, the emotional strain of his squad leader committing suicide, losing his best friend from overdosing on heroin, all combined with his drug addiction ultimately left Shawn losing all hope in life.
Five Afghan men try to reach Europe. The filmmakers followed them for over six months, filming their clandestine journey and chronicling a migration combining fantasy and stark reality, setbacks and achievements, in the midst of the dangers of such trips.
Recounted mostly through animation to protect his identity, Amin looks back over his past as a child refugee from Afghanistan as he grapples with a secret he’s kept hidden for 20 years.
During the 1980s, Russia fought a disastrous war in Afghanistan. Shot by a Western crew, the 40 minute film includes footage of combat missions with the Spetsnaz elite units, helicopter gunship pilots from a Kabul-based Air Assault Unit flying missions, the patrolling of the Salang mountain pass and the military hospital in Kabul. Soviet General Lev Serebrov referred to the making of the film as "An experiment in glasnost".
Inside the very first girls' school in a small Afghan village, education goes far beyond the classroom as the students discover the differences between the lives they were born into and the lives they dream of leading.
This documentary on the effect the talent competition "Afghan Star" has on the incredibly diverse inhabitants of Afghanistan affords a glimpse into a country rarely seen. Contestants risk their lives to appear on the television show that is a raging success with the public and also monitored closely by the government.
An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002.
With Afghan Spring, Noriaki Tsuchimoto widened his focus to the international arena. Working in collaboration with his compatriot, Hiroko Kumagai, and Afghan film-maker, Abdul Latif, he examined society and politics in Afghanistan af the time of the Soviet withdrawal. The film now serves as a valuable record of a culture partially destroyed soon after by the Taleban regime.
When the Soviet troops entered Afghanistan in December 1979, Christophe de Ponfilly and Jérôme Bony made their first clandestine reportage in the Panjshir valley. "A valley against an empire" testifies to the beginning of the struggle of a young commander, Amah Shah Massoud.
Afri, a three-time World Surfing Games participant, has spent a lifetime searching for the world's best coastlines for surf, but never in his home country of Afghanistan. Filmed in three continents, this documentary follows Afridun's journey back to his home country with the help of some river surfers to find surfable waves and bring a drop of joy to the people there. The group battles with continual challenges on their 10-day journey from raging whitewater to culture clash. Their inspiring mission uncovers a long lost mystical side of a country battling with conflict through breathtaking landscapes and the desire to discover something new.
Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.
An Iranian diplomat who miraculously survived Taliban's raid on the Iranian consulate in Mazar E Sharif (Afghanistan) narrates his 19 days of hide and escape to reach Iran's borders meanwhile on the other side, the Iranian troops are preparing for retaliation.
Three boys wander around a large town in Afghanistan, looking for empty bottles and cans to recycle to get them some money for food. During their walk they talk about what's on their minds. Every now and then, the director asks his protagonists for some explanations, such as why they share a loaf of bread they just got with a boy they don't know. One of them answers very matter-of-factly: "As God gives to us, we must give to his people."
In the year following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, young journalist Claude Baechtold finds himself in the war zone of Afghanistan. Not entirely voluntarily, the avowed anti-militarist is dragged by two fearless reporters on a round trip through the entire country.
Annie Goldson and Kay Ellmers’ doco, expanded from the film they made for Maori Television, takes a timely look at New Zealand’s military and media, notably journalist Jon Stephenson, in Afghanistan.
Fidelis Cloer is a self-confessed war profiteer who found The Perfect War when the US invaded Iraq. It wasn't about selling a dozen cars, or even a hundred, it was a thousand-car war where security would become the ultimate product.
11 Septembre, l'avertissement du commandant Massoud
Haji Omar and his three sons belong to the Lakankhel, a Pashtoon tribal group in northeastern Afghanistan. The film focuses on his family: Haji Omar, the patriarch; Anwar, the eldest, his father's favorite, a pastoralist and expert horseman; Jannat Gul, cultivator and ambitious rebel; and Ismail, the youngest, attending school with a view to a job as a government official.
This film is a glimpse of the traditional life of the Afghan people, their culture and their music, just before the Russian intervention in 1979.