This year the festival places a special focus on films emerging from Afghanistan, under their special strand “Take on Afghanistan.” We are thrilled that three dear Close Up friends and participants – Sahra Mani, Aboozar Amini and Dawood Hilmandi – will participate in this special program as the main guests. They will present their new work, lead masterclasses, and participate in panel discussions amongst other filmmakers from Afghanistan.

The first main guest is the director Sahra Mani, who participated in our program as a filmmaker with her film A Thousand Girls Like Me (2019), which won more than 25 awards worldwide.

Aboozar Amini (Kabul, City in the Wind, 2018) is also a Close Up filmmaker and colleague, who is one of the filmmakers that returned to Afghanistan after his filmmaking career in the Netherlands, to support the emerging talent from Afghanistan.

And last but not the least, the program will showcase the work of Dawood Hilmandi, who is one of our current Close Up filmmakers as part of the 2021 / 2022 year, working on a very powerful and urgent film set in Kabul with his co-director Ezattullah Alidost.

“Take on Afghanistan” will be moderated by Orwa Nyrabia, Artistic Director of IDFA.

For more information and to purchase tickets to view online (sale opens March 24) >>