Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS BattlefieldIn another special report for Deadline, coming after the fatal terror attack of Thursday, McKay focuses on the burgeoning film industry that emerged since the Taliban was tossed out by American forces in 2001, and the dark days ahead for Afghani cinema and filmmakers.
However, as soon as the insurgency took control of Kabul’s Presidential Palace and declared themselves the rightful leaders last weekend – those hard-earned gains were shattered in an instant. The steadily evolving and critically acclaimed Afghan film and television industry now belongs to the graveyard of memories.
Many in the film industry are old enough to remember that under the Taliban – who ruled from 1996 and 2001 – such mediums of entertainment are strictly forbidden. Cinemas were bombed and burned, television sets battered and broken by insurgents. Moreover, those caught secretly watching the banned content faced severe punishment such as flogging.
Then in the early days of the Taliban’s first sweep to power, dedicated Afghans took it upon themselves – with great risk – to smuggle and cleverly hide the most significant remnants of the films and entertainment arena they treasured so much. Some reels were buried deep into the earth, others into walls and camouflaged into floorboards.
What had previously endeared me most about the ancient city, nestled inside the vast and fertile plains of Balkh province, was the way everyone from shopkeepers and students to street vendors and professionals, spent hours on the sidewalks sipping tea and watching films from old laptops, square-box television sets and dated model smartphones.
Fuck me no! Shit, gonna be stuck watching the good shit they do in Hollywood. Oh well....
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