Nafas is a reporter who was born in Afghanistan, but fled with her family to Canada when she was a child. However, her sister wasn’t so lucky; she lost her legs to a land mine while young, and when Nafas and her family left the country, her sister was accidentally left behind. Nafas receives a letter from her sister announcing that she’s decided to commit suicide during the final eclipse before the dawn of the 21st century; desperate to spare her sister’s life, Nafas makes haste to Afghanistan, where she joins a caravan of refugees who, for a variety of reasons, are returning to the war-torn nation. As Nafas searches for her sister, she soon gets a clear and disturbing portrait of the toll the Taliban regime has taken upon its people.
Kandahar is a 2001 Iranian film directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, set in Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban. Its original Afghan title is Safar-e Ghandehar, which means “Journey to Kandahar”, and it is alternatively known as The Sun Behind the Moon. The film is based on a partly true, partly fictionalized story of a successful Afghan-Canadian, played by Nelofer Pazira, who returns to Afghanistan after receiving a letter from Dyana, her lifelong girl friend who was left behind when the family escaped, that she plans on committing suicide on the last solar eclipse of the millennium.
Kandahar was filmed mostly in Iran, including at the Niatak refugee camp, but also secretly in Afghanistan itself. Most people, including Nelofer Pazira, played themselves. The film premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, but did not get much attention at first. After 9/11, however, it was widely shown. Kandahar won Makhmalbaf the Federico Fellini Prize from UNESCO in 2001, and is one of the “All-Time” 100 Movies by the periodical Time.
Kandahar (2002)
Directed by: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Starring: Hassan Tantai, Sadou Teymouri, Hayatalah Hakimi, Niloufar Pazira, Ike Ogut, Monica Hankievich, Zahra Shafahi, Safdar Shodjai, Mollazaher Teymouri
Screenplay by: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Cinematography by: Ebrahim Ghafori
Film Editing by: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Art Direction by: Akbar Meshkini
Music by: Mohammad Reza Darvishi
Distributed by: Avatar Films
Release Date: February 1, 2002
Visits: 64
