In The Shadow Of The Caravans

He Toki Huna: New Zealand in Afghanistan

August 2013 •English

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.

The Prince of Nothingwood

June 2017 •French

French documentarist Sonia Kronlund follows actor and director Salim Shaheen, an Afghan movie star who produced more than 110 low-budget movies in a country devastated by war.

The Forbidden Reel

March 2020 •English

According to the official history of Afghanistan, ruthless destruction has always prevailed over art and creation; but there is another tale to be told, the forgotten account of a diverse and progressive country, seen through the lens of innovative filmmakers, a story that survives thanks to a few brave Afghans, a small but very passionate group that secretly fought to save a huge film archive that was constantly menaced by war and religious fanaticism.

Jung (War) in the Land of the Mujaheddin

January 2001 •English

Jung is a narrative documentary that follows the human and professional adventure of its protagonists, the Afghan people in the midst of civil war.

Outside the Wire: The Forgotten Children of Afghanistan

March 2011 •English

The mission: Capture US and NATO forces on camera giving food, water, clothing, blankets, and medical supplies to widows and orphans in refugee camps and villages of Afghanistan.

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

January 1985 •English

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.

Bulletproof Salesman

March 2008 •English

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.

Massoud the Afghan

September 1998 •French

The friendship between Christophe de Ponfilly and Commander Massoud, a legendary figure of the Afghan resistance against the Soviet invader, goes back to the filmmaker's first film, "A Valley Against an Empire", made in 1981. Fifteen years later, weakened, isolated, betrayed by many of his own, the "Lion of Panshir" has not surrendered to his new and implacable enemies, the Taliban. While preparing his next offensive, he evokes his commitment and his fights, and bears witness to a history in which he has been one of the main actors for twenty years. At the same time, the director questions the role and power of the media, as well as his own approach as a filmmaker. Commander Massoud was killed in an attack in September 2001.

Unsurfed Afghanistan

September 2020 •English

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.

11 Septembre, l'avertissement du commandant Massoud

September 2021 •French

Hustlers of Dubai

Invalid date •English

Dubai - the city of controversies. Six individuals go through personal insecurities, cultural pressures, money issues and the hustle of staying true to who they are. In the world that says otherwise. Is it all really worth it ? The film touches upon Arab identity, female role in the world, family values, Islam.

Comme une pluie de parfum

January 2015 •French

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.

Taxi to the Dark Side

January 2008 •English

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.

Roots In The Wind

Invalid date •English

In 1979, after the Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan, millions of Afghans were forced to leave their homeland to save their lives, and in the meantime, a huge wave of them immigrated to Iran.

Tell Spring Not to Come This Year

February 2015 •English

When NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan, the Afghan National Army (ANA) took over control of Helmand Province, an extremely dangerous region where attacks by Taliban fighters are the order of the day. Security, much less peace, would seem to be unattainable; it is even difficult to find a common language in a country where everyone mistrusts each other. The directors of this film accompanied an ANA company during a year of frontline duty in Helmand. The soldiers are paid irregularly, there are not enough supplies and their equipment is substandard. They cannot fight a war with the equipment left behind by the ISAF.

The Billion Pound Base: Dismantling Camp Bastion

December 2014 •English

Documentary that follows the men and women whose job it was to pack up Britain's Camp Bastion base in Afghanistan.

Disaster Capitalism

February 2018 •English

A documentary that reveals the underbelly of the global aid and investment industry. It's a complex web of interests that span the earth from powerful nations and multinational corporations to tribal and village leaders. This documentary offers unique insights into a multi-billion dollar world by investigating how aid dollars are spent.

The Beauty Academy of Kabul

May 2004 •English

What happens when a group of hairdressers from America travel to Kabul with the intention of telling Afghan women how to do hair and makeup? This engaging, optimistic documentary tracks a unique development project: a shiny new beauty school, funded in part by beauty-industry mainstays, which sets out to teach the latest cutting, coloring, and perming techniques to practicing and aspiring Afghan hairdressers and beauticians. The American teachers, all volunteers, include three Afghan-Americans returning home for the first time in over twenty years. The Beauty Academy of Kabul offers a rare glimpse into Afghan women’s lives, and documents the poignant and often humorous process through which women with very different experiences of life come to learn about one another.

Une vallée contre un empire

January 1981 •French

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.

Afghanistan 1979: The War That Changed the World

November 2014 •French

'Afghanistan 1979: the war that changed the world', is a French documentary about the Sovjet invasion in Afghanistan in 1979. It was one of the most crucial events of the 20th century, and changed the world forever. This documentary gives a good insight in the Afghan-Russian war ; the alliance between the Russian and Afghan communist governments ; Islamic resistance ; the support of America for the resistance and its consequences on the war.