Afghan filmmakers make impassioned plea for support – gun – deadline

A session to discuss the role the film community can play in raising awareness of the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan held in Venice Film Festival afternoon. It was attended by Afghan filmmakers in particular Sahraa Karimi And Sahra Mani. The former is the first woman to head the Afghan Film Organization and the author of a book final call To film communities around the world as her country fell into the hands of the Taliban. mane (A girl like me) is a documentary filmmaker presenting her latest project at the CoProduction Market here on Lido.

The two women described the situation that led to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August and made emotional pleas to the film community to help their voices be heard.

Karimi said, “Imagine, on Sunday August 15th you start your usual day, but after a few hours you have decided the hardest decision of your life – to stay or leave – you see the collapse of your dream, your country. It is not only about me or the other filmmakers, it is about the younger generation of filmmakers. the movies “.

She added, “Now Kabul and other major cities are dead. Within two weeks, the most promising young men, they have just left. The most talented, educated and intelligent minds …
Imagine a country without artists, without filmmakers. How can she defend her identity? “

Karimi said the Taliban “are trying to show themselves a soft face, but now they are as tough as before, but they are getting smarter than before using modern communication technology. They will use cinema or audio-visual products for propaganda.”

The director asked the international film community to “be our voices. All of you, don’t forget Afghanistan. We have talent, we work hard and we have stories to tell the world. We can be part of the global community…we have tried so much, we should not be forgotten.”

Karimi did not come to Venice with solutions or to ask for financial support. Instead, she said, she was asking for “intellectual support, something that gives us hope that we don’t feel like we’re going to die. Support of the Afghan people because we deserve to live in peace, in a quiet society and we deserve to realize our dreams.”

Mani recounted that the Taliban “arrested a musician and shot him to death for playing an instrument. We are not 100 years ago. It is a shame for us in any corner of the world that someone is killed for playing an instrument.”

Today she said, “It is miserable, my people are losing everything. Who knows if they will come tomorrow to the rest of the world or not? This is an important question we must all ask.”

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