zindagi chist

zindagi chist 2023

1

After reminiscing on a beautiful & terrifying dream, abdullah & rahim ask the question... what is life except sorrow?

2023

The Secret Reading Club of Kabul

The Secret Reading Club of Kabul 2026

1

In Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where women are denied the right to study, work, and speak freely, a group of young women risk their lives to form a secret reading circle.

2026

The Wooden Doll

The Wooden Doll 1970

1

The story of an Afghan boy who lost his family in the war in Afghanistan and gets involved in his past and future.

1970

Laila at the Bridge

Laila at the Bridge 2018

1

In a country offering almost no treatment services despite a crisis of addiction, Laila Haidari took the highly unusual decision to found her own pioneering addiction treatment center and a restaurant where all of the waiters are recovering heroin addicts. A deeply personal perspective on the global addiction epidemic, the film follows the labor of love of one woman fighting to keep her center alive in the face of physical threats, governmental opposition and the departure of the international community from Afghanistan.

2018

If Luck Will Come

If Luck Will Come 2026

1

Through beautiful images and with a camera at eye level with its young protagonists, we gain a rare insight into what it means to grow up in Afghanistan after the Taliban took power.

2026

Scan

Scan 2024

1

The film introduces us to an Afghan woman who wants to travel to another city and an American woman who mistreats her.

2024

Trees

Trees 2023

1

On the death of her husband, Malal retrieves her hidden pencils and paper from beneath a floorboard to draw the flowers in her garden. While her sons argue over who will look after her now, she leaves the house alone for the first time in years.

2023

The Request

The Request 1969

1

A 45 minute black and white film originally produced as part of a three-part anthology film called Rozgaran (each part with a different director). 'Talabgar' (directed by Khaliq Alil) translates loosely as 'the one who asks' and in the case of this 40-minute film the one who asks is specifically the man who asks a girl's parents for their permission to court their daughter.

1969

Son of a Widow

Son of a Widow 1988

1

A Pashtun villager boy visits Kabul for the first time ever.

1988

Mohtarama

Mohtarama 2013

1

In 2009, the Afghan Parliament approved the Shia Family Law, which was then signed by President Karzai. The law severely restricted women’s freedom, making it illegal for them to exit the house without their husband’s consent or resisting to their husband’s sexual demands. Mohtarama The Afghan women who were against this law, gathered and protested in front of Afghanistan’s biggest religious school where the law was written with support from Sheikh Asif Mohsini (an Islamic scholar and the founder of the school). The protests turned violent as the students of the school began humiliating the women protestors by beating, spitting, and labeling them as “Western followers”. This was one of the first major movements by women for their rights. This seemed to be the right time to visit other provincesto learn about the concerns and challenges of the educated Afghan women and their hopes and expectations from women movements.

2013

Tailor Story

Tailor Story 2011

1

The third of George Gittoes Love City trilogy made with actors and crew in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. In this third chapter, Ghuty takes her turn in the spotlight. Also a media trailblazer, she hosts a radio call-in show devoted to love stories and song dedications. When two star-crossed lovers use her show to tell their tragic tale, her ratings take-off. Their story takes on additional significance for her, as she pursues love with Zaki, a fixer working with the American military, against her parents’ wishes.

2011

Saralish

Saralish 2022

1

“Saralish” means arranged marriage. In rural Iran, men dominate. A little girl is exchanged by another one, not even knowing what is happening to her, and she is now the wife to an old man. And the mothers have no say in this. But when an afeghani woman who has been educated in Germany returns to solve her own marriage arrangement that took place before she was even born, the situation of all the women there only gets worse. In the meantime, the boys play with the remains of war but also begin discovering new paths. An alert to human rights situation.

2022