Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Tuesday, April 30th, 2024

“Kabul, I Love You” - The Realities of Afghan Women’s Life on Cinema Screen

Three decades of civil war has left behind several and uncountable adversities for Afghan society, there is no single part of the country where the sign of war is not sensed. Three decades of war era has led the country around 100 years behind development and has demolished foundational infrastructures of the country.

There has been no admirable era throughout the history of this region, but the country experienced the darkest of its eras during Taliban regime. Taliban had banned any kind of activity that was against their ideologies. During 1996 – 2001 era; the hardliners closed cinemas and destroyed all the images and signs as un-Islamic. They demolished the historical sculptures of the country and the famous giant Buddhas of Bamiyan paid the price as an example.

Forced marriage, human smuggling, opium trades, illegal land grabs, land mines and ethnic conflicts are the short scenes of the problems that Afghan civilians are daily experiencing. Among the segments in Afghan society, women have been one of the most vulnerable segments of the society who have been neglected during most of the regimes.

They have not been given the rights of access to education, health care and social justice. After the downfall of Taliban regime since 2001, Afghan government, along with cooperation of its international alliances, has tried to stabilize the demolished infrastructures of the country.

They have got admirable achievements in terms of educational development, construction projects and financial managements. Beside all the reemerging developmental achievements, film industry after 17 years of suffering eras has also tried to play its role in reconstructing the country.

A decade after the fall of the civilization hating regime of Taliban, a group of Afghans from the film industry have reemerged on the screen to play their roles in reconstructing a war torn country. They have created dozens of films of Afghan society with so short and tiny budget.

According a documentary maker Malik Shafehi, "Afghanistan produces around 100 films a year, but the industry has not grown up so satisfactory due lack of enough budget." Most of the produced films and dramas up to now are like a copy of the Indian film industry with a very low quality. But to be honest it is really unfair to degrade their efforts. Their efforts are admirable to do so with a very limited budget after decades of suffering.

There have been many books and articles printed about the sufferings of Afghan women, but "Kabul I Love You" is the first production of Afghan film industry that has tried to cover the problems faced by Afghan mothers and sisters and disclose their problems on the screens of cinema. The film is funded by UN mission in Afghanistan so as to boost up the country's cinema and encourage the film makers and initiators to develop their own ideas and creativities in making films. Despite many setbacks, the film got on screen in May, 2012 in French Cultural Center in Kabul.

Though parts of the film betrayed lack of director's experience, exaggerated characters with poor dialogues, but it did grab warm reception, because it was really shot on the bases of realties that Afghan women have been long tolerating