10 Films to Watch To Understand the Afghanistan Crisis Better

Films that will help put the Afghanistan crisis in a better perspective.

Movies and cinema are one of the best mirrors to society that help you understand things from different perspectives and world views. The case for Afghanistan is not an exception. As the Afghanistan crisis worsens, a lot of people have found themselves at a crossroads when it comes to grasping the history and real context behind the Taliban takeover in the country.

Apart from reading the news and historical accounts revolving around the incident, here are some movies that will help you understand the situation in the country better.

1. Osama (2003)

A film based on the raw experiences and first-hand account of Afghan people living in the country, Osama captures the plight of the common man there, living under the rule of an oppressive leader.

Living in a country where women are prohibited from leaving the house without the company of a man, a mother and daughter come up with a plan to disguise the daughter as a boy called Osama. Directed by Siddiq Barmak, the movie is also one of the first to be shot in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

2. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

An American thriller directed Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty is based on the story of CIA operative and analyst Maya, who along with her team, runs a decade-long search in locating terrorist Osama Bin Laden responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

3. The Road to Guantanamo (2006)

The story of The Road to Guantanamo revolves around three British Muslims captured by American forces in 2001 and put in Guantanamo Bay, an American military prison located in Cuba.

4. The Tillman Story (2011)

When a football players become a US Army Ranger Pat Tillman who was killed in Afghanistan under mysterious circumstances. While most people were told that he died fighting for his country, the truth was that his death was a result of a 'friendly-fire'. The movie is a sharp comment on everything that goes on on the battlefield and how people are sometimes shown an exaggerated, romanticised version of events.

5. Taxi To the Dark Side (2007)

Focusing on the Bush administration's treatment of suspects following the 9/11 attacks, Taxi to the Dark Side is the story of a taxi driver who is found dead after being taken into questioning for 5 days. He dies by torture, thereby portraying the harsh means used by the authorities that time just to 'teach a lesson' to their enemies. The documentary has won an Academy Award too.

6. The Patience Stone (2012)

A heart-searing story of a woman who talks about all her darkest secrets to her husband of 10 years, who is in a vegetative state. Based in Afghanistan and her time there, the story is an adaptation of Atiq Rahimi's novel of the same title.

7. Kandahar (2001)

An Afghan woman living in Canada has to travel back to her home country to look for her suicidal sister while navigating the dangerous places in the country.

8. Earth and Ashes (2004)

The story of an old Afghan man who desperately tries to reach his son by crossing a desert with his deaf grandson. The father has some terrible news to deliver to his son who works in a mine.

9. Kabul Express (2006)

A fictional story based on two American journalists, an Indian journalist and an Afghan guide who are taken hostage by Pakistani soldiers. They travel for 48 hours with them through war-torn Afghanistan.

10. In This World (2002)

Two young Afghan refugees escape the terror-prone country they are in, and seek refuge in other places. To get there, they have to go through some strenuously terrifying circumstances just to survive and live a new life in London.