Afghan women filmmakers plead at Venice

Afghan female filmmakers who fled the Taliban are begging the world to not forget the Afghan people and to support its artists.

The women spoke at a panel discussion at the Venice Film Festival to warn that a country without culture will eventually lose its identity.

Sahraa Karimi, the first female president of the Afghan Film Organization, choked up in telling reporters all that had been lost after the Taliban completed their takeover of the country.

She cited numerous films in pre-and-post production, filmmaking workshops, insurance policies that had all ground to a halt, and film archives that are now in the hands of the Taliban.

“Imagine a country without artists, a country without filmmakers. How can they defend its identity?” She said.