Director’s cut: Afghan woman making waves at all-male film board

KABUL: In the dilapidated offices of Afghanistan’s state-run film board, where old movie reels are stacked in rusting canisters, Sahraa Karimi heads the all-male team she hopes will help drag the nation’s cinema from the lingering shadow of Taliban rule.

“It is a very difficult position to be in, because I came to an office that had almost nothing, destroyed, so I need to build it again,” said Karimi, a 36-year-old movie director whose female-led picture “Hava, Maryam, Ayesha” premiered this month at the Venice Film Festival. During its 1970s heyday, Afghanistan’s film industry was vibrant: a slew of movies — including the hit “Mardha Ra Qawl Ast” (Men keep their promises) — dealt with themes of love, romance and power relations. But all that ended after the Soviet invasion of 1979, as filmmakers were pushed into propaganda, and the arrival of the Taliban — who banned film and music under their savage rule of 1996-2001. The Islamist hardliners systematically destroyed movie reels and music tapes, smashed television sets, and anyone caught watching films faced harsh punishments including flogging. After the Taliban’s ouster, the formerly prestigious Afghan Film board was resurrected but it has long languished, largely neglected, with a string of directors and leaders accused of incompetency. At its Kabul offices, vital documents have been tossed in the trash and its all male staff — some of whom once hid precious movie reels from the Taliban — now appear to lack motivation.