The Forbidden Reel(HKAFF 2021)

Film is more than just entertainment; it’s also an important document of history that permanently captures a specific period in time. During the Taliban regime, many Afghan films were destroyed by the extremists. However, a group of people managed to preserve the archives of the Afghanistan national film institute. Afghan-Canadian filmmaker Ariel Nasr explores the history of his parents’ homeland through its films, using excerpts of films from the archive as well as interviews with filmmakers, actors and film historians to show the vibrancy of the country’s rich cultural history, even as it experienced a half-century of political turmoil and oppression.