''The Afghan Alphabet'' ( fa, الفبای افغان, translit=Alefbay-e afghan) is a 2002 documentary by

Mohsen Makhmalbaf Mohsen Makhmalbaf ( fa, محسن مخملباف, ''Mohsen Makhmalbaaf''; born May 29, 1957) is an Iranian film director, writer, film editor, and producer. He has made more than 20 feature films, won some 50 awards and been a juror in more than 1 ...

showing the life of children in the Afghan villages bordering Iran, and how their life and culture were affected by the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

regime.

Importance

In 2002 about 3 million Afghan refugees were living in Iran. From those about 700,000 were Afghan children who were not allowed to go to Iranian schools because of their illegal status in Iran. After this movie was made, this subject became controversial and finally the

Islamic Consultative Assembly The Islamic Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای اسلامی, Majles-e Showrā-ye Eslāmī), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the national legislative body of Iran. The P ...

passed a bill to allow Afghani children to go to school and it resulted in 500,000 kids getting education.

Awards & Festival Screenings

*Best Film Award from Document ART International Film Festival, (Germany) 2002 * Fajr International Film Festival, Iran 2002 *Gotteburg 2003 *Rio 2003 * Busan International Film Festival 2003 *Hong Kong 2003 *Greece 6 March 2002 (

Thessaloniki Documentary Festival The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (TDF) is an international documentary festival held every March in Thessaloniki, Greece. TDF, founded in 1999, features competition sections and ranks among the world's leading documentary festivals. Since 20 ...

) *USA 6 April 2002 ( DoubleTake Documentary Film Festival) *USA 2 June 2002 ( Seattle International Film Festival) *Canada 1 September 2002 (

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

) *Japan 7 September 2002 (Tokyo) *USA 4 October 2002 (

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

) *South Korea 18 November 2002 (

Pusan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festi ...

) *Singapore 3 May 2003 (

Singapore International Film Festival The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) (Chinese: 新加坡国际电影节) is the longest-running film festival in Singapore. Founded in 1987, the festival has a focus on showcasing international films and providing a global platform for ...

) *Hungary 4 October 2006 (TV premiere)

References

External links

*
''The Afghan Alphabet''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Iranian documentary films Films directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf Documentary films about children Documentary films about Afghanistan {{bio-documentary-film-stub