Kandahar (2001)

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Kandahar (2001) - M. Makhmalbaf

At the start of this century, Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf turned his attention to war-ravaged Afghanistan (soon to be invaded by the USA) and, in defiance of the Taliban, filmed this short feature on the border between the two countries.  Nelofer Pazira, an expatriate Afghan living in Canada, is trying to get to Kandahar because her despondent sister who lives there is going to commit suicide on the night of the eclipse, which is in 3 days time,  Presumably she is despondent due to the anti-woman policies that keep all women hidden behind fall body burqas. So, this is a road movie of sorts and Pazira has a number of experiences that allow Makhmalbaf to offer some political and humanistic statements about war and human rights.  However, the movie is anything but didactic - instead it is fully surreal, as Afghanistan probably is.  Brightly colored burqa wearing women march across the desert, men with limbs blown off by mines hobble on crutches after artificial limbs dropping by parachute from passing aircrafts, a doctor (who turned out to be real life fugitive terrorist David Belfield) treats women who lurk behind a curtain with only an eyehole to peer through. Makhmalbaf's camera makes the strange stranger, allowing us to look in wonder and therefore fully register our horror.