Mir and his family form a portrait of embattled Afghanistan that no other film has ever captured. War, politics, poverty, and heartbreak – all seen from the level of a child frolicking in a muddy, bullet-laden pool, playing soccer on a dirt pitch, and forgoing school to work ploughing in the fields, collecting wood from mountain tops, or digging coal in perilous mines, all at subsistence wages to support his family. The innocence and optimism of Mir contrasts with carefully selected contemporary news footage that also offers sobering comments of leading soldiers, politicians, and journalists offering their own insights into what is going wrong and what is going right.
MY CHILDHOOD, MY COUNTRY – 20 YEARS IN AFGHANISTAN is thus the perfect film to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and the October defeat of the Taliban. After more than a trillion dollars spent by 40 countries, and countless lives lost, was the cost worth it – for Mir and the world? The film lets the viewer decide. The film has already been called ‘the one film you absolutely need to watch about Afghanistan – and how the West succeeded and failed at the same time’.
Language: Dari, English
Subtitles: English, Estonian
- Name in Original Language: My Childhood, My Country: 20 Years in Afghanistan
- Director: Phil Grabsky, Shoaib Sharifi
- Country: UK
- Year: 2021
- Length: 90 min
- Cinematography: Phil Grabsky, Shoaib Sharifi
- Editing: Clive Mattock
- Production: Amanda Wilkie
Showtimes:
- Cinema Artis, hall 2: Wednesday, 2.02 - 18:30
- Cinema Artis, hall 1: Saturday, 5.02 - 19:00
- Elisa Stage platform: Tuesday, 1.02 9 am - Sunday, 6.02 11:59 pm (the film can be viewed within 48 hours from the first opening)