Cinema, Taliban, and Being a Woman in Today's Afghanistan: An Interview with Sahraa Karimi

Abstract

On 13 August 2021, Sahraa Karimi posted a letter from her Twitter account. I write you with a broken heart and a deep hope that you can join me in protecting my beautiful people, especially filmmakers, from the Taliban. In the last few weeks, the Taliban have gained control of so many provinces. They have massacred our people, they kidnapped many children, they sold girls as child brides to their men, they murdered a woman for her attire. . . . It is a humanitarian crisis, and yet the world is silent. . . . We need your voice. The media, governments, and the world humanitarian organizations are conveniently silent as if this “Peace deal” with the Taliban was ever legitimate. It was never legitimate. Recognizing them gave them the confidence to come back to power. The Taliban have been brutalizing our people throughout the entire process of the talks. Everything that I have worked so hard to build as a filmmaker in my country is at risk of falling. . . . I do not understand this world. I do not understand this silence. I will stay and fight for my country, but I cannot do it alone. I need allies like you. Please help us get this world to care about what is happening to us. Please help us by informing your countries’ most important media what is going on here in Afghanistan. Be our voices outside of Afghanistan . . .  Days after publishing this letter, Sahraa had to flee from Afghanistan as the Taliban took control of Kabul. Within several weeks, I made this interview with her.