The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. SAARC comprises 3% of the world's land area, 21% of the world's population and 5.21% of the global economy, as of 2021.
Hirokazu Kore-eda is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor. He began his career in television and has since directed more than a dozen feature films, including Nobody Knows (2004), Still Walking (2008), and After the Storm (2016). He won the Jury Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival for Like Father, Like Son, and won the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival for Shoplifters.
Mina Shum is an independent Canadian filmmaker. She is a writer and director of award-winning feature films, numerous shorts and has created site specific installations and theatre. Her features, Double Happiness and Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity both premiered in the US at the Sundance Film Festival and Double Happiness won the Wolfgang Staudte Prize for Best First Feature at the Berlin Film Festival and the Audience Award at Torino. She was director resident at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto. She was also a member of an alternative rock band called Playdoh Republic.
Cinema was introduced to Afghanistan at the beginning of the 20th century. Political troubles, such as the 1973 Afghan coup d'état and the Saur Revolution slowed the industry over the years; however, numerous Pashto and Dari films have been made both inside and outside Afghanistan throughout the 20th century. The cinema of Afghanistan entered a new phase in 2001, but has failed to recover to its popular pre-war status.
Brillante Mendoza, also known as Dante Mendoza, is a Filipino independent filmmaker. Mendoza is known one of the key members associated with the Philippine New Wave.
Skateistan is a non-profit organization that uses skateboarding and education to empower children. Over 2,500 children, aged 5–17, attend Skateistan's programs in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa. 50% of students are girls. Through their innovative programs, Outreach, Skate and Create, Back-to-School, Dropping In and Youth Leadership, Skateistan aims to give children the opportunity to become leaders for a better world. Skateistan has Skate Schools in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and Johannesburg, South Africa. The international headquarters is in Berlin, Germany.
Leena Alam is an Afghan film, television, and theater actress. She has appeared in films such as Kabuli Kid, Black Kite, Loori, A Letter to the President and Hassan. She is widely known to have worked on film and TV that speak of child marriage, gender inequality, women's rights and social conflicts.
The Boxing Girls of Kabul is a 2012 Canadian documentary film directed by Ariel Nasr. The film follows young women boxers, under which Sadaf Rahimi, and their coach Sabir Sharifi at Afghanistan’s female boxing academy, as these athletes face harassment and threats in their efforts to represent their country in international competition and attempt to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Dasun Pathirana [Sinhala]), is a model and actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. He won an award at Indie Fest 2014 as best actor in a leading role. He received his first Sarasaviya award in 2018.
The Breadwinner is a 2017 animated drama film from Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon directed by Nora Twomey. Based on the best-selling novel by Deborah Ellis, the film was an international co-production among Canada, the Republic of Ireland and Luxembourg, and received a limited release on 17 November 2017.
Yosef Baraki is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, editor and film producer. He is best known for his feature film debut Mina Walking, which premiered at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival and won the inaugural Discovery Award at the 4th Canadian Screen Awards in 2016.
Surya Kumar Neupane known professionally as Uttam Neupane, is a Nepali sound mixer. He is the recipient of the 5th National Film Award of Nepal for Best Sound mixing for the feature film Mero Euta Saathi Chha. Two films he did sound-mixing for, Bulbul and Talakjung vs Tulke, were Nepal's official entries for the 92nd and 88th Academy Awards respectively.
Prasanna Jayakody is a Sri Lankan film director and screenwriter, internationally recognized for his cinematic accomplishments in contemporary Sri Lankan cinema. His movies primarily explore the human state of mind, displaying fusions of human emotions, senses and thoughts set against the fractured socio-economic, cultural and religious environments of Sri Lanka. In the global context, Jayakody’s cinema represents the psycho-biological realities of mankind and the arbitrariness of human cognition juxtaposed against the larger concept of civilization. Jayakody’s eccentric cinematic world, in the absence of a flowing story, capitalizes on subtle but detailed images and intense characters.
Leila Zare is an Iranian actress known for her roles in We Are All Fine (2005), Goodbye (2011) and Night Shift (2015).
Hassan Nazer is a British-Iranian film director, film editor, producer and a judge in international film festivals. He was the head of jury team in SAARC Film Festival 2019 which was held in Sri Lanka.
Faceless is a 2016 Canadian-Afghan Persian-language action film.
Flee is a 2021 independent adult animated documentary film directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen. An international co-production with Denmark, France, Norway, and Sweden, it follows the story of a man under the alias Amin Nawabi, who shares his hidden past of fleeing his home country of Afghanistan to Denmark for the first time. Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau serve as executive producers and narrators for the English-language dub version.
The Lindalee Tracey Award is an annual film award, presented in memory of Canadian documentary filmmaker Lindalee Tracey to emerging filmmakers whose works reflect values of social justice and a strong personal point of view. Created by Peter Raymont, Tracey's widower and former filmmaking partner, through his production studio White Pine Pictures, the award is presented annually at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival; however, the award is not limited to documentary films, but may be awarded to films in any genre, and films do not have to have been screened as part of the Hot Docs program to be eligible.
When Pomegranates Howl is a 2020 Afghan-Australian drama film written and directed by Iranian-born Australian filmmaker Granaz Moussavi. The film was partly funded through Adelaide Film Festival, which became its premiere place. It was selected as the Australian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.
