Afghan Films
by Maxence_G | created - 15 Aug 2021 | updated - 27 Aug 2021 | PublicFrom Wikipedia: When the Taliban took power in 1996, cinemas were attacked and many films were burnt. The Taliban forbade the viewing of television and films and cinemas were closed, either becoming tea shops or restaurants or falling into a state of disrepair. Habibullah Ali of Afghan Film hid thousands of films, buried underground or in hidden rooms, to prevent their destruction by the Taliban.Teardrops was the first post-Taliban film in 2002, and the first film since Oruj in 1995. On November 19, 2001, Bakhtar was the first cinema to re-open its doors, where thousands of people entered that day.
Rules: From 2002-2021
Which of these Afghan films best exemplifies filmmaking in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2021?
All Afghan films listed on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?countries=af
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1. The Kite Runner (2007)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama
After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.
Director: Marc Forster | Stars: Khalid Abdalla, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, Atossa Leoni, Shaun Toub
Votes: 82,555 | Gross: $15.80M
2. Osama (2003)
PG-13 | 83 min | Drama
After the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the restriction of women in public life, a pre-teen girl is forced to masquerade as a boy in order to find work to support her mother and grandmother.
Director: Siddiq Barmak | Stars: Marina Golbahari, Zubaida Sahar, Khwaja Nader, Mohammad Arif Herati
Votes: 9,532 | Gross: $1.13M
3. The Patience Stone (2012)
R | 102 min | Drama, War
In a war ridden country a woman watches over the husband reduced to a vegetable state by a bullet in the neck, abandoned by Jihad companions and brothers. One day, the woman decides to say things to him she could never have done before.
Director: Atiq Rahimi | Stars: Golshifteh Farahani, Hamid Djavadan, Hassina Burgan, Massi Mrowat
Votes: 5,489 | Gross: $0.15M
4. Korengal (2014)
R | 84 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Korengal picks up where Restrepo (2010) left off--with the same men, in the same valley, with the same commanders--but presents a very different look at the experience of war.
Director: Sebastian Junger | Stars: LaMonta Caldwell, Miguel Cortez, Stephen Gillespie, Aron Hijar
Votes: 4,092 | Gross: $0.06M
5. The Hornet's Nest (2014)
R | 93 min | Documentary, Action, History
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.
Directors: David Salzberg, Christian Tureaud | Stars: Frank Adamski, Ofren Arrechaga, Ed Bankston, Carlos Boettcher
Votes: 2,810 | Gross: $0.31M
6. Hell and Back Again (2011)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary, Action, History
What does it mean to lead men in war? What does it mean to come home? Hell and Back Again is a cinematically revolutionary film that asks and answers these questions with a power and ... See full summary »
Director: Danfung Dennis | Stars: Nathan Harris, Ashley Harris, The Marines of Echo Company, Christian Cabaniss
Votes: 2,348 | Gross: $0.04M
7. Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame (2007)
81 min | Drama, War
In Afghanistan, a young girl wants to go to school and learn to read and write, but is met with hostility or indifference.
Director: Hana Makhmalbaf | Stars: Abbas Alijome, Abdolali Hoseinali, Nikbakht Noruz
Votes: 2,357
8. Manhunt: The Inside Story of the Hunt for Bin Laden (2013)
TV-14 | 102 min | Documentary, History, War
Filled with testimony and recollections from actual C.I.A. agents, this in-depth account reveals the remarkable true story of the pursuit of the world's most notorious terrorist, Osama bin Laden.
Director: Greg Barker | Stars: Osama bin Laden, Nada Bakos, Marty Martin, Cindy Storer
Votes: 1,172
9. Buzkashi Boys (2012)
28 min | Short, Drama
Set against the dramatic landscape of contemporary Afghanistan and the National sport of Buzkashi - a brutal game of horse polo played with a dead goat - Buzkashi Boys tells the coming of ... See full summary »
Director: Sam French | Stars: Fawad Mohammadi, Jawanmard Paiz, Wali Talash
Votes: 753
10. The Land of the Enlightened (2016)
87 min | Documentary, Drama, War
A gang of Afghan kids from the Kuchi tribe dig out old Soviet mines and sell the explosives to children working in a lapis lazuli mine. When not dreaming of the time when American troops ... See full summary »
Director: Pieter-Jan De Pue | Stars: Gholam Nasir, Khyrgyz Baj, Noor, Zulfu
Votes: 633
11. Stray Dogs (2004)
93 min | Drama
The story of survival of 2 children in post-Taliban Afghanistan. Their mother has been imprisoned for "adultery" and their father is in Guantanamo Bay.
Director: Marzieh Makhmalbaf | Stars: Gol-Ghotai, Zahed, Agheleh Rezaie, Sohrab Akbari
Votes: 706
12. A Few Cubic Meters of Love (2014)
90 min | Drama, Romance
A romance blooms between a young Iranian man working in a factory in Tehran and the daughter of an Afghan worker.
Director: Jamshid Mahmoudi | Stars: Mahdi Ebadi, Hasiba Ebrahimi, Nader Fallah, Isa Hosseini
Votes: 715
13. The Orphanage (2019)
90 min | Drama
A 15-year-old ticket scalper in Kabul dreams of Bollywood until the Soviets force him into a state facility.
Director: Shahrbanoo Sadat | Stars: Karan Jeet Singh, Qodrat, Eshanullah Kharoti, Anwar Hashimi
Votes: 683
14. Two-Legged Horse (2008)
101 min | Drama
A wealthy boy hires a poor child to carry him around like a horse.
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf | Stars: Ziya Mirza Mohamad, Haron Ahad, Gol-Ghotai, Khojeh Nader
Votes: 640
15. Earth and Ashes (2004)
102 min | Drama
Elderly Dastaguir and his newly deaf 5-year-old grandson Yassin hitchhike and walk, but mostly walk, as they make their way to the coal mine where Dastaguir's son Murad works. Dastaguir ... See full summary »
Director: Atiq Rahimi | Stars: Abdul Ghani, Jawan Mard Homayoun, Sher Agah, Malik Akhlaqi
Votes: 586
16. Wajma, an Afghan Love Story (2013)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama
It's snowing in Kabul, and gregarious waiter Mustafa charms a pretty student named Wajma. The pair begins a clandestine relationship - they're playful and passionate but ever mindful of the... See full summary »
Director: Barmak Akram | Stars: Wajma Bahar, Mustafa Abdulsatar, Haji Gul Aser, Brehna Bahar
Votes: 468
17. Tell Spring Not to Come This Year (2015)
84 min | Documentary, War
The war in Afghanistan, through the eyes of the Afghans who live it.
Directors: Saeed Taji Farouky, Michael McEvoy
Votes: 381
18. Kabuli Kid (2008)
97 min | Drama
A woman in a light-blue chadri abandons her infant in the backseat of a cab in the bustling streets of post-war Kabul.
Director: Barmak Akram | Stars: Haji Gul Aser, Valéry Schatz, Amélie Glenn, Mohammad Chafi Sahel
Votes: 312
19. Rona, Azim's Mother (2018)
80 min | Drama
Azim, an afghan refugee, who works at the municipality at night, lives in Tehran along with his family. Being the head of entire family and as the eldest brother, he arranges for his ... See full summary »
Director: Jamshid Mahmoudi | Stars: Mohsen Tanabandeh, Mojtaba Pirzadeh, Fatemeh Hosseini, Fereshteh Hosseini
Votes: 396
20. Wolf and Sheep (2016)
86 min | Drama
Based upon unpublished diaries, the film assumes the role of an anthropologist observing remote shepherd communities in Afghanistan where wolves and sheep have equal importance.
Director: Shahrbanoo Sadat | Stars: Qodrat, Amina, Sahar, Masuma
Votes: 343
21. The Diplomat (2015)
TV-14 | 104 min | Documentary, Biography
THE DIPLOMAT tells the remarkable story of the life and legacy of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, whose singular career spanned fifty years of American foreign policy - from Vietnam to Afghanistan.
Director: David Holbrooke | Stars: Madeleine Albright, Christiane Amanpour, Rina Amiri, Kofi Annan
Votes: 347
22. Parting (2016)
74 min | Drama, Romance
Two young Afghans,Fereshteh and Nabi, are in love, but Fereshteh has to follow her parents and leave Afghanistan to find refuge in Iran. Nabi decides to illegally cross the border, find ... See full summary »
Director: Navid Mahmoudi | Stars: Reza Ahmadi, Fereshteh Hosseini, Behrang Alavi, Nazanin Bayati
Votes: 308
23. Seven and a Half (2019)
75 min | Drama
The lives of seven women and their personal struggles.
Director: Navid Mahmoudi | Stars: Neda Jebraeili, Hasti Mahdavifar, Anahita Afshar, Fereshteh Hosseini
Votes: 370
24. No Greater Love (I) (2015)
TV-14 | 94 min | Documentary
No Greater Love explores a combat deployment through the eyes of an Army chaplain, as he and his men fight their way through a hellish tour in one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan and then as they struggle to reintegrate home.
Director: Justin Roberts | Stars: Gene Delgado, Jameson Lindskog
Votes: 242 | Gross: $0.03M
25. The (R)evolution of Immortal Technique (2011)
60 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
Immortal Technique emerged from prison a changed man. As his inner journey continues he travels the world promoting a revolution of consciousness through hip-hop. His path from a troubled ... See full summary »
Director: Cary Stuart | Stars: Pam Africa, Chuck D, DJ Green Lantern, Woody Harrelson
Votes: 190
26. No Burqas Behind Bars (2012)
77 min | Documentary, Drama
This documentary takes viewers inside one of the worlds most restricted environments - an afghan women's' prison. Through the prisoners own stories we explore how moral crimes are used to control women in Afghanistan.
Directors: Maryam Ebrahimi, Nima Sarvestani
Votes: 187
27. The Boy Who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan (2004)
96 min | Documentary, Biography, History
In 2001, the Taliban government of Afghanistan destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan, the world's tallest stone sculptures. By the summer of 2002, after the fall of the Taliban, more than 250 ... See full summary »
Director: Phil Grabsky | Star: Mir Hussain
Votes: 158
28. Dust (III) (2016)
Action, Drama
Azra, Emir, Ahmet are three siblings who were born and raised in Istanbul, their family originally from Afghanistan. After their mother's death, Azra who regrets about her weakness of ... See full summary »
Director: Gozde Kural | Stars: Öykü Karayel, Beran Soysal, Erkan Akbulut, Muhammed Cangören
Votes: 208
29. I Am You (2019)
89 min | Drama
I Am You is inspired by the story of a refugee, the horrendous conditions before his heroic journey, the heartbreaking indifference confronting him along the way, and the uplifting power and humanity found in hope, truth and justice.
Director: Sonia Nassery Cole | Stars: Defne Kayalar, Damla Sönmez, Cansu Tosun, Mert Ramazan Demir
Votes: 258
30. The Soldier's Star (2006)
100 min | Drama, History, War
A Russian guitarist was enlisted in 1984 in the Afghan war. Imprisoned, he will meet an Afghan musician and a French journalist.
Director: Christophe de Ponfilly | Stars: Sacha Bourdo, Patrick Chauvel, Philippe Caubère, Hanns Zischler
Votes: 138
31. Kabul, City in the Wind (2018)
88 min | Documentary
A city is an orchestration of its inhabitants. The film portraits the city Kabul through daily details of two kids and a bus driver, set against the background of a city destroyed by politic and religious powers.
Director: Aboozar Amini | Star: Mahdi Ebadi
Votes: 175
32. Drowning in Holy Water (2020)
81 min | Drama
A young Afghan couple is trying to leave Afghanistan and to exile to Europe from Afghanistan in a hope to find a better life. To execute this plan, they first illegally arrive in Iran by ... See full summary »
Director: Navid Mahmoudi | Stars: Matin Heydarinia, Sadaf Asgari, Ali Shadman, Neda Jebraeili
Votes: 238
33. Opium War (2008)
90 min | Drama, War
Two American soldiers wounded in the Afghanistan desert stumble across a Russian tank which has a group of Afghanis living inside.
Director: Siddiq Barmak | Stars: Peter Bussian, Joe Suba, Fawad Samani, Jawanmard Paiez
Votes: 170
34. Lezate divanegi (2003)
73 min | Documentary
Documentary showing the backstage of production of Samira Makhmalbaf's film Panj É Asr(At Five in the Afternoon), in Kabul, after the fall of the Taliban regime. Everything was recorded ... See full summary »
Director: Hana Makhmalbaf | Stars: Bibigol Asef, Sima Asef, Agheleh Farahmand, Marzieh Makhmalbaf
Votes: 178
35. I Am a Girl (2013)
88 min | Documentary, Biography
Six girls coming of age, ready to become something extraordinary.
Director: Rebecca Barry | Stars: Habiba, Breani Saintonge
Votes: 137
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