Filmmakers in exile speak to their and their country’s trauma. – JP Movie Night Screen&Discuss

November 10, 2021

Ten years ago ten Afghan filmmakers – with the assistance of Roslindale’s Community Supported Film (CSFilm) – made ten short documentaries showing the lives of their countrymen and women. The docs provided a ground level view of life in the war ravaged country as individuals began to rebuild. 

Now those filmmakers are either refugees, or hiding in Afghanistan. 

JP Movie Night showed five of the Afghan made documentaries on December 4th. The event was hosted by CSFilm’s Director, Michael Sheridan. In a very emotional experience, the event included the participation via Zoom of two recent evacuees and the project’s translator and coordinator.

Qasem joined from Iran where he has gone through a horrific smuggling from Afghanistan to Tehran with his six-year-old daughter and mother. It has been a traumatic experience physically and mentally. Qasem is in the terrible situation of not being able to work in Iran and not able to get into Turkey. We are working to try and find other possibilities for Qasem and his family to be given asylum – perhaps to Mexico or Brazil. Qasem said during the event that he does not see a future for Afghanistan now that the youth that had emerged and taken leadership in Afghanistan over the last 20 years have left the country.

Aqeela joined the event from France. The French government evacuated a plane load of Afghan cultural workers on August 24th. Aqeela, with her three sons, was included in this group because of her prominent role as an actress in Afghan cinema and television, her work as a director and for her outspoken work on women and human rights. Aqeela admonished the international community and the United States for not putting more pressure on the Taliban government to honor women and human rights.

Jamal joined the conversation from Canada where he received asylum with the rest of his family in 2020. He said that the return of the Taliban makes those in the diaspora now feel permanently homeless – their cultural and familial homeland is gone.

Contact Community Supported Film if you would like to organize a Screen&Discuss with the Afghan films in your community.


Date and time: Sat, December 4, 2021, 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM EST, Add to calendar

Location: Video Underground, 3203 Washington Street Boston, MA 02130

All attendees will need to be fully vaccinated prior to, and masked during, the screening.

Produced by JP Movie Night

“Building Community, One Movie at a Time”

(617) 863-3392

www.jpmovienight.org

Twitter: @jpmovienight1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2183016105248187/

Related Posts:

Advocate for Afghan Refugees

Advocate for Afghan Refugees

Your help is needed to advocate for refugees like Shekib and his family.

The Trump administration suspended the US refugee program and funding for refugee resettlement. This has stranded tens of thousands of refugees already vetted to enter the US and hundreds of thousands more who were in process.

Here are some options for your advocacy:

– Church World Services action-alert to oppose Trump’s indefinite refugee ban

– United in Welcome – Tell Your Elected Officials: We Value Welcoming

– Refugee Council – Quick Reference Guide and Top Four Ways to Take Action

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *