The List (Hana Makhmalbaf) Iran |

The List
Hana Makhmalbaf
Iran. 2023. 65 min

In the course of a few days, with the final withdrawal of the international forces from Kabul, the lives of millions of Afghan people suddenly changes for the worse.
Overnight, with the return of the Taliban to power, many artists and filmmakers in the country find themselves at risk of being executed. In an attempt to escape to safety, like many others, they rush to the international airport to board the last few leaving planes.

HANA MAKHMALBAF

Hana Makhmalbaf, is an Iranian film director. Coming from the Makhmalbaf family of international filmmakers, Hana started her career by making short films and documentaries at a very young age.
At the age of 14, her documentary Joy of Madness premiered at Venice Film Festival, with film receiving various prizes including the Youngest Filmmaker of the World Award for the director.

At 18, her first feature Buddha Collapsed out of Shame, a powerful and poetic tale about a 5 years old Afghan girl in search of education, won her the “Crystal Bear” from Berlin Film Festival. The film, also known as Le Cahier, went to receive enormous reception around the world, receiving dozens of prestigious awards including: the “Grand Jury Award” from San Sebastian Film Festival, Unicef “Paolo Ungari” special award of Rome Film Festival, “Daniel Langlois Innovation Prize” at Festival du nouveau cinéma Montreal, “Woman & Equality Award” of Thessaloniki Film Festival.

DIRECTOR,S NOTE

In August 2021, with the sudden announcement of the US president’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, the Taliban quickly gained momentum and climbed back into power. In a few days, with the final withdrawal of the international forces from Kabul, the lives of millions of Afghan people suddenly changed for the worse.
Overnight, many local artists and filmmakers who have made films against the Taliban during the past 20 years found themselves in the hand of their worst enemy. Instantly, the lives of all those actors, writers and journalists were put at tremendous risk. Being present in the media for many years, as famous people, they could find nowhere to hide from the Taliban.

The fear of execution and torture by the Taliban led to some individuals hanging from the wings of departing US military planes, hoping to escape a more brutal death in the country.
Having made a few films in Afghanistan and being aware of the potential human catastrophe ahead, we embarked on an effort to try and rescue over 800 artists, journalists, and their families whose lives were in immediate danger. In the remaining week, our team knocked on every door in the world, asking for help to save these endangered lives. The present film is a documentation of part of those last few days in Afghanistan.
This film is my cry for help in saving a few more lives.

FILMOGRAPHY