AFGHANISTAN: KABUL CINEMA FANS WATCH "RESISTANCE" NINE HOUR FILM ABOUT NORTHERN ALLIANCE AND FORMER LEADER MASOOD' STRUGGLE AGAINST TALIBAN

Record ID: 205718

  • Title: AFGHANISTAN: KABUL CINEMA FANS WATCH "RESISTANCE" NINE HOUR FILM ABOUT NORTHERN ALLIANCE AND FORMER LEADER MASOOD' STRUGGLE AGAINST TALIBAN
  • Date: 5th January 2002
  • Summary: SMV MAN LOOKING AT PHOTOGRAPHS FROM DOCUMENTARY ON WALL OF CINEMA SCU SOUNDBITE (Farsi) UNIDENTIFIED YOUNG MAN SAYING: "I came here, because I wanted to see Moghavem At's film about Masood, because all Afghani people consider him a hero. All Afghani people love him and will never forget him." (L!3)KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (JANUARY 7, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) SLV ROW OF BICY
  • Embargoed: 20th January 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: Conflict,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA3OSG07PDSXBT8Y4X5H5OFVT0Z
  • Story Text: Hundreds of Afghans crammed into a draughty cinema in the capital's Khairkhana district this week for a cinematic experience that would test the stamina of even the most hardened moviegoer.
    The audience came to see "Resistance", a nine-hour, three-part film on the history of the Northern Alliance's struggle against the Taliban, which featured former leader, Ahmad Shah Masood.
    They cheered for the heroes, booed at the villains; gasped at the gory details of death and bloodshed and cried, as families were united on the silver screen.
    Afghanistan's film industry has never come close to matching the production-line output of India or Pakistan, or even the more modest art-house offerings from neighbouring Iran. But those that remain in the country's film industry hope "Resistance" will be the first step towards revitalising a medium that was clumsily state-controlled during the decade-long Soviet occupation that ended in 1980 and then completely destroyed by the Taliban in 1996 who deemed it un-Islamic.
    "Basically, we are starting from scratch again." Moghaven At, a producer of "Resistance", told Reuters in an interview on Monday (January 7).
    Speaking from the near-deserted Afghan Film Studios set, Moghaven said most people involved in the film industry fled when the Taliban seized Kabul in 1996.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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