
UnderthreatofexecutionbytheTaliban,whoweredestroyingcountlessaspectsofAfghanistan’sculture,AfghanFilmworkershidhundredsoffilmreelsbehindasecretwall.<br/> Therescuedarchive,whichstillliesinavulnerablestateintheirofficeinKabul,revealsanincrediblyrichcinematichistory.Itshowsfacetsofamodernist,leftleaningAfghanistan,longcrowdedoutbynewsimagesofviolenceandextremism.<br/> InTheForbiddenReel,directorArielNasrinterviewskeyplayers,includingdirectorLatifAhmadiandactressYasminYarmal,tellinghowAfghanauteurcinemaflourishedthroughoutthe1970sand1980s,evenamidstdramaticnationalupheaval.<br/> Throughthearchiveitself-andinterweavingrecreationsusingoriginalfilmingequipment-NasrpensamovinglovelettertoanAfghanistanmostofushaveneverseenbefore.