After escape, Afghan director mourns her 'lost country'

PARIS – As a filmmaker, Shahrbanoo Sadat watched with fascination arsenic Taliban fighters took implicit her metropolis and terrified crowds animated the streets. But arsenic an Afghan woman, she besides watched the country done different prism and knew: It was clip to flee.

After her family’s harrowing flight from Kabul, Sadat is present informing satellite governments: “The Taliban is simply a violent radical and the satellite should recognize they are dangerous,” she told The Associated Press successful Paris connected Sunday.

“I’m losing my content successful democracy, successful quality rights, successful women’s rights,” she said, due to the fact that she feels that Western countries aren’t doing capable to support these things successful Afghanistan.

Sadat, whose archetypal movie “Wolf and Sheep” won an grant linked to the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and 9 household members were among thousands of Afghans brought retired by overseas governments earlier the past U.S. troops pulled retired past week.

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They spent 72 hours successful enactment astatine the Kabul airport, warring to get out. The archetypal night, Afghan troops “were precise aggressive, shooting from 6 p.m. until 10 a.m. We couldn’t spell forward, adjacent a fewer meters.” So the household tried different gate.

“We slept successful a queue, moving each 5 minutes a fewer centimeters,” she said.

Taliban forces pulled retired the corpses of 11 radical who had been crushed to decease successful the hopeless crowd, she said.

Once successful France, she was taken to an abandoned gathering successful a Paris suburb that the authorities hastily converted into impermanent structure for those fleeing Afghanistan.

“For 3 days, we were successful implicit quarantine truthful we couldn’t spell anywhere. I didn’t person internet," she said. "When they released us, we had lone 2 hours and I ran to the mobile store to get a SIM card. But different people, they went to the Eiffel Tower,” she said.

“I was aggravated due to the fact that ... we mislaid a state and radical seemed to maine precise careless," reasoning astir tourism alternatively of their homeland, she said. "But connected the different hand, we already mislaid it, truthful what is the constituent of crying?”

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Sadat joined a protestation Sunday by assistance groups and others demanding that Western governments bash much to assistance those near down and enactment unit connected the Taliban. Some Afghans who person been struggling for years to get asylum joined the demonstration, on with those who precocious arrived.

Sadat is disquieted astir relatives inactive successful Afghanistan — and astir 1 of her actors, who stayed successful his autochthonal Panjshir state to effort to support Afghanistan’s past remaining pouch of absorption to the Taliban, which stepped up its battle of the portion Sunday.

The Taliban person sought to recast themselves arsenic antithetic from erstwhile they ruled successful the 1990s, erstwhile they blocked women and girls from moving and acquisition and banned tv and music. But galore are skeptical that volition clasp true.

Sadat said differences were palpable earlier she left. She described a vendor refusing to merchantability her crystal pick due to the fact that Taliban fighters stood adjacent — enjoying the aforesaid crystal pick she was denied.

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“They didn’t look astatine maine but I looked astatine them ... similar a movie manager doing a casting,” she said. “But arsenic an individual, I was truthful scared.”

Fellow pistillate Afghan filmmakers who fled the Taliban begged the satellite not to hide the Afghan people, informing astatine the Venice Film Festival connected Saturday that a state without civilization volition yet suffer its identity.

Sadat hopes to articulation her sister and spouse successful Germany, and revive enactment connected her latest film, a romanticist comedy. She remains determined to marque films contempt her exile.

“It’s important to speech astir Afghanistan’s warfare from an Afghan perspective, and a feminine perspective,” she said.

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