Nothing about the bullet-scarred building—one of hundreds in central Kabul—indicates the astonishing story that unfolded within the walls of Afghan Film.
It was here that an impassioned clique of filmmakers, often working across enemy lines, gave birth to a progressive national cinema in one of the most underdeveloped societies on Earth.
And it was here, in an episode worthy of a spy thriller, that a clandestine network of cinephiles conspired to protect this precious legacy from the iconoclastic fanatics who destroyed the great Buddhas of Bamiyan.
Unearthing surprising new details of the story, Afghan-Canadian director Ariel Nasr works his own cinematic magic to bring this epic history to shimmering life, juxtaposing dramatic insider testimony from “Engineer” Latif Ahmadi, Siddiq Barmak and other key players with freshly restored images from Afghan Film’s extraordinary archive.
Marvelling in all the mysterious and fragile power of movies, he crafts a visually absorbing and utterly original story of modern Afghanistan.
Nothing about the bullet-scarred building—one of hundreds in central Kabul—indicates the astonishing story that unfolded within the walls of Afghan Film, Afghanistan’s national film production institute.
It was here, during the 1970s and ’80s, that an impassioned clique of filmmakers, often working across enemy lines, gave birth to a progressive auteur cinema in conditions that would confound the most seasoned western director.
And it was here, in an episode worthy of a spy thriller, that a clandestine network of cinephiles conspired to protect this precious legacy from the iconoclastic fanatics who destroyed the great Buddhas of Bamiyan.
Unearthing surprising new aspects of the story, Afghan-Canadian director Ariel Nasr brings this epic history to shimmering life, juxtaposing dramatic insider testimony with luminous 16-mm recreations and clips from newly restored feature films that reframe our understanding of Afghan history.
In one extraordinary sequence, Nasr returns to Afghan Film with the brave Taliban official who secretly broke rank at a pivotal juncture in 1996—quietly raising an alarm that would ensure the survival of his nation’s cinematic heritage.
Each of the story’s characters is a filmmaker in their own right. The inimitable “Engineer” Latif Ahmadi, still in his twenties when he began shaping Afghanistan’s national cinema, would steer the country’s public film producer through the turbulence of Soviet occupation and civil war—while maintaining ties to filmmakers embedded within the Mujahideen resistance.
Other characters include actress Yasmin Yarmal, who has defied restrictive gender norms to become a beloved national icon, along with the fearless Mujahideen cameraman Yusuf Jannesar, and auteur filmmaker Siddiq Barmak, whose credits include the 2004 Golden Globe winner Osama and the screenplay for 1995’s The Ascent (Uruj), arguably the most authentic film ever made on Afghanistan’s resistance to Soviet occupation.
Shedding light on history that was nearly erased, Nasr fashions a gripping narrative of cultural retrieval, punctuating his account with excerpts from Afghan films that open a window into a fascinating national cinema hitherto unknown to the vast majority of western viewers. Marvelling in the fragile power of movies, he crafts a visually absorbing and utterly original story of modern Afghanistan, as seen by the country’s forgotten cinema makers.
The Forbidden Reel is co-produced by Loaded Pictures (Sergeo Kirby, producer) and the National Film Board of Canada (Kat Baulu, producer). Executive producers are Sergeo Kirby for Loaded Pictures and Annette Clarke for the NFB. In a gesture of cultural diplomacy, the NFB, Canada’s own public film producer, has been assisting Afghan Film with the restoration of its archive.
Writer and Director
Ariel Nasr
Editor
Annie Jean, CCE
Cinematographer
Duraid Munajim
Music Composer
Olivier Alary
Sound Designer
Marie-Pierre Grenier
Producers
Sergeo Kirby
Kat Baulu
Executive Producers
Sergeo Kirby
Annette Clarke
Executive Producer, TVO
Jane Jankovic
Production Executive, TVO
Linda Fong
Co- Producer
Ariel Nasr
Associate Producer
Stacey Tenenbaum
Development Producers
Noelle Sorbara
Paul D. McNeill
Additional Camera
Jonathan Saruk
Ariel Nasr
Jordan Byron
Pablo Alvarez-Mesa
Hassan Nikzad
Parwiz Arify
Marie-Cecile Dietlin
Sergeo Kirby
Sound
Sergeo Kirby
Emory Murchison
Karl Niaudot
Musicians
Olivier Alary: Slide Guitar, Electronics
Johannes Malfatti: Prepared Piano, Percussion
John Corban: Viola
Jean-Christophe Lizotte: Cello
Erik Hove: Saxophone, Flute
Production Managers
Mylene Chalifoux
Charles Faubert
Production Coordinator
Gaël Cheval
Production Assistants
Zion Lipstein-Saffer
Benjamin Payet
Ali Atia Aldaradji
Research
Ariel Nasr
Additional Research
Aisha Jama
Soraya Atayee
NFB Quebec Atlantic Studio
Senior Production Coordinators
Camila Blos
Kelly Davis
Cheryl Murgatroyd
Production Coordinators
Christine Williams
Mylène Augustin
Larissa Christoforo
Studio Administrators
Leslie Anne Poyntz
Camila Blos
Paris Team
Production Manager
David Noreau
Production Coordinators
Hugo Cisterne
Maylis Roussel
Additional Camera
Pierre-Francois Didek
Grip
Yacine Siaci
Simultaneous Translation
Amanullah Mojadidi
Kabul Team
Field Producer
David Wahab
Production Manager
Saleem Yousofzada
Assistant Production Manager
Hamid Mohammadi Fazlyar
Production Coordinator
Kazim Farnood
Art Department
Arshad Khan
Paola Ridolfi
Assistant to Art Department
Khaled Aziz
Key Gaffer
Jamil Ghanizada
Grip Team
Jamil Dakohai
Salaam Yousofzai
Safiulla Sadiqi
Zakarya Amin
2nd Camera
Hassan Nikzad
Best Boy
Tamim Omari
Simultaneous translation
Tawfiq M. Qasim Faiz
Anwar Hareb
Driver
Hameed Yousofzada
Cook
Masoud Saadati
Kabul Cast
Latif as a Child
Abdurahman
Siddiq as a Child
Ahmed Zahed
as Young Siddiq
Najebullah
as Projectionist
Abdul Rasool Khalaqi
as Soviet Spies
Hamsafar Azam
Khaled Aziz
as President of Afghan Films
Mohamad Yaqood
as Taliban
Farooq Ghulam Baraki
Jamil Dakohai
Safiulla Sadiqi
Zakarya Amin
as Siddiq’s Mother
Koko Gul
Post Production
Additional Editor
Eve LeClair
1st Assistant Editor
Francis Bernier
Assistant Editors
Gilda Pourjabar
Gordon Hashimoto
Nikolaos Nikolaidis
Carlos Cortes
Patrice Arsenault
Dialogue Editor
Luc Bouchard
Technical Supervisors
Keith Pattington
Francis Bernier
Title Design
Hadi Jamali
Still Photography
Sergeo Kirby
Ariel Nasr
On-Line Editor
Serge Verreault
Digital Imaging Specialists
Mélanie Bouchard
Jacques Bertrand Simard
Foley Recording
Geoffrey Mitchell
Foley Artist
Karla Baumgardner
Re-recording
Jean-Paul Vialard
Digital Editing Technicians
Isabelle Painchaud
Pierre Dupont
Patrick Trahan
Technical Coordinators
Daniel Lord
Jean-François Laprise
Christopher MacIntosh
Mira Mailhot
Technical Edit Coordinator
KEVIN RILEY
Title Design
Hadi Jamali
Still Photography
Sergeo Kirby
Ariel Nasr
Dari Translators (alphabetical)
Ali Karimi
Fawad Popalyar
Fazila Amiri
Mariam Parwanta
Mohammad Ali Askar
Naghmeh Sarvaran
Narges Haghighat
Power of Babel
Raheleh Salim
Soraya Atayee
Pashto translator
Sayed Hashimi
Subtitles
Ariel Nasr
Annie Jean
Soraya Atayee
Producer’s Assistant
Charles Beaudette
Bookkeeper
Margaret Terreau
Tax Credit Administration
Amy Miller
Business Affairs
Mary Graziano
Brent McColl
Legal Counsel
Peter Kallianiotis
Dominique Aubry
Vanessa Loubineau
Production Insurance
GLOBALEX
Marketing Manager
Johanna Lessard
Marketing Coordinator
Jolène Lessard
Marketing Editors
Nabil Mehchi
Susan Shanks
Jeremiah Hayes
Angel Trasgallo Carpio Angel
Head, Festivals and Audience Development
Élise Labbé
Publicists
Jennifer Mair
NFB DIGITIZATION
Executive Director, INSTITUTIONAL PROGRAM
André Picard
Head, Technical Resources
Claude Brien
Louis Dupuis
Director, Research & Development
Jimmy Fournier
Supervisor, Conservation
Marie-France Rousseau
Technicians Digitization and Conservation
Steven Woloshen
Nathalie Dallaire
William Holley
Diane Dumas
Aldo La Ricca
Martin Forget
Technician, Sound Transfer
Pierre St-Germain
Films Featured (by year of production)
Eshgh va Doosti (Love and Friendship)
Directed by M. Luis
Fiction (1946)
Manand Oghab (Like an Eagle)
Directed by Fayz Muhammad Kheirzada
Fiction (1967)
Sherkat Battery Aria (Aria Battery Company)
by Engineer Latif Ahmadi
Advertisement (1970)
Sprite
by Engineer Latif Ahmadi
Advertisement (1970)
Mujasamaha Mikhandand (The Sculptures are Laughing)
By Torialai Shaffaq
Fiction (1975)
Enghelab Sour (Saur Revolution)
by Engineer Latif Ahmadi
Docu-Fiction (1979)
Gonah (The Sin)
by Engineer Latif Ahmadi
Fiction (1980)
Mazraeh Sabz (Green Field)
by Engineer Latif Ahmadi
Fiction (1981)
Akhtar Maskara
(Akhtar the Joker)
by Engineer Latif Ahmadi
Fiction (1982)
Farar (Escape)
by Engineer Latif Ahmadi
Fiction (1983)
Saboor Sarbaz (Patient Soldier)
by Engineer Latif Ahmadi
Fiction (1984)
Hamaseh Eshgh (Epic of Love)
by Engineer LatifAhmadi
Fiction (1987)
Mardha ra Ghoul Ast (Men Keep their promises)
Directed by Saeed Orokzai
Fiction (1987)
Begana (The Stranger)
by Siddiq Barmak
Fiction (1987)
Khakestar (The Ashes)
by Saeed Orokzai
Fiction (1991)
Urooj (Ascension)
by Noor Hashim Abir and Script by Siddiq Barmak
Fiction (1995)
Khane Tarikh (The House of History)
by Qader Tahiri
Documentary (1996)
Thanks to Afghan Films
Azim Karimi
Wafi Amin
Fahim Zolal
Rafiullah Azizi
And all the Staff
Archival Footage Courtesy of
Afghan Films Archive
Afghan Film -Delete! Newsreels
(1919 to 1996)
Fiction and Documentary Films
Yusuf Jannesar
Photographs Courtesy of
Afghan Films
Yusuf Jannesar
Engineer Latif Ahmadi
Siddiq Barmak
Yasmin Yarmal
EVIL WAYS
Words and Music by CLARENCE ARTHUR HENRY
(c) UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING CANADA ON BEHALF OF UNIVERSAL SONGS OF POLYGRAM INT., INC. (SOCAN)
Performed by Charles Siqueira Vaz, Globe Studios In Mumbai India with Dr Ashit Bavadekar and band.
Produced with the financial participation of
CMF/FMC
In association with TVO
John Ferri, VP Current Affairs and Documentaries, TVO
and
AJE Witness
Executive Producer
Fiona Lawson Baker
Commissioning Editor
Reem Haddad
Production Support
Maria Costea