As Taliban seizes power in Afghanistan, here's a look at film industry and notable actors in the country

As Afghanistan is being gradually captured by the Taliban, citizens across the world are concerned about the safety of the people and their rights in the country. The Taliban is known for their hardline Islamist approach and have a history of oppressing women. Their strict interpretations of Islamist law also include forbidding music and movies. 

In such a situation, as thousands try to flee the country and utter chaos is being reported at airports, stations and streets of Afghanistan, it makes one wonder as to what will happen to art and cinema in the country.

Due to the political changes in the country, the growth of cinema had been curtailed in Afghanistan over the years during Taliban rule. Afghani cinema entered a new era in 2001 with the resurgence of the film industry from a lengthy period of silence. Over the years, the representation of women increased immensely in the film industry.

Actresses such as Leena Alam, Amina Jafari, Saba Sahar and Marina Gulbahari have established a name for themselves over the last decade. Saba is also Afghanistan’s first female film director. The film which brought the world’s attention to Afghanistan was Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s 2011 film ‘Kandahar’ which also became the first Afghani film to enter the Cannes film festival.

During the course of two decades, several notable films were made such as ‘Osama’ which won the golden globes in 2003, ‘Buzkashi Boys’ (2012) which was nominated for the Oscars, ‘A Letter to the President’ and ‘Emaan’ among others. 

Recently, amid the rapidly changing situation in the country, an Afghani filmmaker named Sahraa Karimi wrote an open letter talking about the horrors the Taliban has been inflicting upon the people, selling girls off as child brides to their fighters and gouging out the eyes of women who did not wear the "right" clothes. 

She also wrote that the terrorist group is assassinating members of the government, notably the head of media and culture, as well as a comedian, a historian and a poet, and displacing hundreds of thousands of families, who are now living in unsanitary conditions in Kabul, their babies dying because there’s no milk. 

Highlighting what Taliban rule could mean for Afghanistan’s creative community and its women, Karimi writes, "If the Taliban takes over it will ban art. I and other filmmakers could be next on their hit list. They will strip away women’s rights, we will be pushed to the shadows, to our homes, and our voices will be stifled into silence. Just in these few weeks, the Taliban have destroyed many schools and two million girls are now forced out of school."

Taliban terrorists are assuming control of the Afghan capital of Kabul and have taken control of the presidential palace after the country’s president Ashraf Ghani fled to Tajikistan. Reports suggest that the movement will soon proclaim the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Sunday said that the Taliban have been asked to enter the capital city of Kabul.