Afghan filmmaker Sahraa Karimi: The Taliban will strip women's rights

Noted Afghan filmmaker Sahraa Karimi has penned an open letter calling on the world to wake up to the impact of the Talibans swift takeover of Afghanistan She calls for protection for filmmakers and for women in general against the brutal militants who have overrun the country amid the final US withdrawal of forcesTo All the Film_Communities in The World and Who Loves Film and CinemaI write to you with a broken heart and a deep hope that you can join me in protecting my beautiful people especially filmmakers from the Taliban Share it please dont be silent pictwittercom4FjW6deKUimdash Sahraa Karimi sahraakarimi August 13 2021Karimis letter was sent to international media organizations and posted in different forms on her Facebook account On Sunday the Talibans grip on Afghanistan seemed to be near complete as militants were reported to have swept into the nations capital of Kabul forcing the president to flee Variety reportedIn another video message Karimi says Greetings the Taliban have reached the city We are escaping She is seen running and urging others to escape while they are still ableView this post on InstagramA post shared by Sahraa Karimi sahraakarimiKarimi who previously directed Hava Maryam Ayesha a film about abortion that appeared at the Venice festival in 2019 says that despite the slick public image the Talibans agenda is brutally feudalistic paternalistic and involves turning the clock back on womens rights the report saidThe Taliban will strip womens rights we will be pushed into the shadows of our homes and our voices our expression will be stifled into silence When the Taliban were in power zero girls were in school Since then there are over 9 million Afghan girls in school Just in these few weeks the Taliban have destroyed many schools and 2 million girls are forced now out of school again said KarimiAlso readAnurag Kashyap shares Afghan filmmakers appeal to end the silenceEverything that I have worked so hard to build as a filmmaker in my country is at risk of falling If the Taliban take over they will ban all art I and other filmmakers could be next on their hit list she said Karimi is also head of stateowned Afghan FilmKarimi says that the Talibans agenda targets the suppression both of women and the liberal artsIn the last few weeks the Taliban have massacred our people they kidnapped many children they sold girls as child brides to their men they murdered a woman for her attire they gouged the eyes of a woman they tortured and murdered one of our beloved comedians they murdered one of our historian poets and they murdered the head of culture and media for the now deposed government her letter assertedKhaled Hosseini author of the book The Kite Runner which was later adapted as a film called the Taliban takeover a nightmareThe American decision has been made And the nightmare Afghans feared is unfolding before our eyes We cannot abandon a people that have searched forty years for peace Afghan women must not be made to languish again behind locked doors amp pulled curtains he said on TwitterThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever