RASC News Agency: The Ministry of Information and Culture of the Taliban has recently organized its third short film festival in Kabul, focusing on “Cultural and Jihadi” themes. This announcement comes despite the Taliban’s strict enforcement of the “Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” law, which bans the display of images depicting living beings. State-run media, under Taliban control, reported that the Afghan Film and Theatre Directorate of the Taliban had successfully held this festival, showcasing short films with jihadist themes.
According to this media outlet, the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture presented awards to several directors, writers, and cinematographers who participated in the event. Atiqullah Azizi, the Taliban’s Deputy Minister for Culture and Art, expressed the group’s full support for producing jihadist films during the festival’s closing ceremony. He emphasized, “We urge all writers and filmmakers to create films that align with national and Islamic values.”
However, female screenwriters participating in the festival have raised allegations of discrimination, claiming they were deliberately removed from the list of contributors and participants. Amina (a pseudonym), a female director who took part in the festival, told RASC: “I spent an entire year writing the screenplay and producing a film. I traveled to Kabul with high hopes to participate in the festival, and I directed a film. After the results were announced, I discovered that the names of female participants had been erased.”
She added, “All my hard work was dismissed, and we received no recognition. Even though the film adhered to the Taliban’s prescribed jihadi-religious themes, being women led to our exclusion.” Before the festival, the Taliban had strictly dictated the “jihadist and Taliban-approved” themes that filmmakers had to follow, severely limiting creative freedom for all participants.
