16 Days in Afghanistan

Girls of the Sea

Goli is an Afghan girl whose father has quit the Taliban group because he disagreed with their aggressive tactics. In retaliation, the Taliban kill her father and mother. Now, they are looking for Goli to kill her too. She escapes to Iran. In Iran, she is introduced to a group that helps girls to immigrate to other countries. She hopes to go to another country and start a new life there. In this journey, she faces many ups and downs and challenges.

The Hornet's Nest

2014 · ★ 6.2

Armed only with their cameras, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning conflict Journalist Mike Boettcher, and his son, Carlos, provide unprecedented access into the longest war in U.S. history: they are embed with U.S. troops during nine days of intense combat in Afghanistan.

Kandahar

2001 · ★ 6.3

After an Afghanistan-born woman who lives in Canada receives a letter from her suicidal sister, she takes a perilous journey through Afghanistan to try to find her.

The Soviet Army Prepares for Action in Afghanistan

2011

The Soviet Army Prepares for Action in Afghanistan is derived from four shots of a Soviet film called Heirs of Victory (1975) which commemorates the Allied triumph over fascism in World War II. The original film celebrates the military might of the USSR in images of explosions and armed men leaping through flames. These images are subjected to such thorough manipulation that they become patterns flickering like a multitude of abstract paintings, with digital smears standing in for squeegee marks and brush strokes. Slowly the shots become less abstract until they are completely recognizable, though still somehow rather surreal.

Afghan Star

2008 · ★ 6.3

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.

My Childhood, My Country: 20 Years in Afghanistan

2021 · ★ 8

This film creates a real-life epic of boyhood and manhood that follows the same individual over 20 years, living in one of the most dangerous countries in the world. When we first meet Mir, he is a mischievous boy of seven living in a cave in central Afghanistan alongside the Buddhas of Bamiyan, two statues that were recently destroyed. For two decades, the film follows the adventures of his life, until, as an adult with a family of his own, he decides to pursue his own career as a news cameraman in Kabul. More than just a personal journey, My Childhood, My Country is an powerful examination of what has – and has not – been achieved in Afghanistan over the past 20 years.

Amir: An Afghan Refugee Musician's Life in Peshawar, Pakistan

1985 · ★ 7

Amir, shot during the height of the Afghan civil war in the 1980s, investigates and portrays the life of Afghan refugees living in and around the city of Peshawar in northern Pakistan through the experiences of the musician Amir. The aspirations of Afghan refugees are expressed through their political songs dealing with the civil war in Afghanistan, with exile, with Afghan nationalism and with the Islamic revolution. In highly charged and tragic circumstances, music can be used in very direct ways, both to promote solidarity and as an agent of catharsis.

Talibanerna inifrån

2019

"Inside the Talibans" - What will happen if the Talibans return to power? Swedish journalist Magda Gad travels the Herat and Wardak provinces of Afghanistan to meet with the Taliban fighters.

The Cyclist

1989 · ★ 6.7

The wife of Nasim, an Afghan immigrant in Iran, is gravely ill. He needs money to pay for her care, but his day labor digging wells does not pay enough. A friend connects Nasim to a two-bit promoter who sells tickets to watch Nasim ride a bicycle continuously for a week. The promoter brings in sick and aged spectators, haranguing them to find hope in Nasim's strength. Aided by his son, who feeds him as he rides, Nasim grinds out the days and shivering nights. Local officials believe this may be a plot and Nasim may be a spy; they try to sabotage him as do those who bet he won't finish the week. Will desperation alone get Nasim the money? Is any triumph an illusion?

Heart of Asia (Afghanistan)

1929 · ★ 5

This documentary offered tantalizing glimpses of Afghanistan, which in 1929 was still one of the few heavily-populated areas in the world where the residents continued to live as they did in the Middle Ages. A progressive new leader named Amnullah tries to "Westernize" the country, meeting plenty of resistance from native reactionaries.

Kajaki

2014 · ★ 6.6

British soldiers guarding the Kajaki Dam set out to rescue a three-man team after one of them loses a leg to a landmine.

Parvaneh

2012 · ★ 6.7

Parvaneh is a young Afghan immigrant who recently arrived at a transit centre for asylum seekers in the Swiss Alps. The only things she has got to know yet are the rural area surrounding the centre and the centre itself.