Bamyan Province, also spelled Bamiyan, Bāmīān or Bāmyān, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan with the city of Bamyan as its center, located in central parts of Afghanistan.
Bamyan, also spelled Bamiyan or Bamian, is the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. Its population of approximately 70,000 people makes it the largest city in Hazarajat. Bamyan is at an altitude of about 8,366 feet (2,550 m) above sea level. The Bamyan Airport is located in the middle of the city. The driving distance between Bamyan and Kabul in the southeast is approximately 180 kilometres (110 mi). The Band-e-Amir National Park is to the west, about a half-hour drive from the city of Bamyan.
The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two possibly 6th-century monumental Buddhist statues in the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan. Located 130 kilometres (81 mi) to the northwest of Kabul, at an elevation of 2,500 metres (8,200 ft), carbon dating of the structural components of the Buddhas has determined that the smaller 38 m (125 ft) "Eastern Buddha" was built around 570 CE, and the larger 55 m (180 ft) "Western Buddha" was built around 618 CE, which would date both to the time when the Hephthalites ruled the region. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site of historical Afghan Buddhism, it was a holy site for Buddhists on the Silk Road. However, in March 2001, both statues were destroyed by the Taliban following an order from their leader Mullah Muhammad Omar. A Taliban envoy, Sayed Rahmatullah Hashimi, explained that the Taliban decided to destroy ancient works in anger after a foreign delegation offered money to preserve them while a million Afghans were starving. "When your children are dying in front of you, you don't care about a piece of art," he said. International and local opinion condemned the destruction of the Buddhas.
The cinema of Iran, or of Persia, refers to the film industry in Iran. In particular, Iranian art films have garnered international recognition. Iranian films are usually written and spoken in the Persian language.
Anand Patwardhan is an Indian documentary filmmaker known for his socio-political, human rights-oriented films. Some of his films explore the rise of religious fundamentalism, sectarianism and casteism in India, while others investigate nuclear nationalism and unsustainable development. Notable films include Bombay: Our City (1985), In Memory of Friends (1990), In the Name of God (1992), Father, Son, and Holy War (1995), A Narmada Diary (1995), War and Peace (2002) and Jai Bhim Comrade (2011), Reason (2018), and The World is Family (2023), which have won national and international awards.
Nilofar Pazira is an Afghan-Canadian director, actress, journalist and author.
Christian Frei is a Swiss filmmaker and film producer. He is mostly known for his films War Photographer (2001), The Giant Buddhas (2005) and Space Tourists (2009).
Buddha's Lost Children is a 2006 documentary film by Dutch director Mark Verkerk. The feature film tells the story of Khru Bah Neua Chai Kositto, a Buddhist monk who has dedicated his life to orphaned children in the Golden Triangle area of Thailand. The film opened in Dutch cinemas in September 2006.
Arūnas Matelis is a Lithuanian documentary film director. From 1979 till 1983 Arūnas Matelis studied Mathematics at Vilnius University and later in 1989 graduated from the Lithuanian Music Academy. In 1992, he established one of the first independent film production companies in Lithuania, "Nominum". In 2006 Matelis became a full member of European Film Academy with the right to vote.
Cinema was introduced to Afghanistan at the beginning of the 20th century. Political troubles 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.
Dr. Zemaryalai Tarzi is an archaeologist from Afghanistan.
The Tribe is a short documentary film directed by Tiffany Shlain and narrated by Peter Coyote. Weaving together archival footage, graphics and animation, it tells the history of both the Barbie doll and the Jewish people from Biblical times to the present.
Enemies of Happiness is a 2006 documentary about the controversial Afghan politician and member of the Afghan Parliament Malalai Joya filmed by Danish director Eva Mulvad.
Li Yu is a Chinese female film director and screenwriter. Li began her career in entertainment at a young age, serving as a presenter at a local TV station. After college, she worked for CCTV, where she directed television programs before moving on to documentaries and feature films.
Phil Grabsky is a BAFTA-winning British documentary filmmaker who has received multiple awards for his directing, writing, producing and cinematography.
Hippie Masala: Für immer in Indien is a 2006 Swiss documentary film directed by filmmaker Ulrich Grossenbacher and anthropologist Damaris Lüthi.
The Boy Mir is documentary film about ten years life of a Hazara boy in Afghanistan. This film was made after an international hit film The Boy who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan by a British film maker Phil Grabsky.
Jayan K. Cherian is an Indian poet filmmaker who lives in New York City, US. He used to write in Malayalam and English languages. His documentary film Shape of the Shapeless got wide popularity on Many film festivals like International festival circuit, The International Film Festival of South Africa, as well as several festivals in North America. It won the Silver Jury Prize at the San Francisco Short Film Festival 2010, the Eastman Kodak award for Best Cinematography, and City Visions 2010 award for Best Documentary. Graduated with honors from Hunter College, BA in Film and Creative Writing and MFA from The City College of New York in Writing Directing Film, and Cinematography. Ka Bodyscapes (2016) is his new feature film, Papilio Buddha (2013), his critically acclaimed debut feature film, was screened in the Panorama Section at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. He made several experimental documentaries and narrative shorts such as: Shape of the Shapeless (2010) Love in the Time of Foreclosure (2009), Hidden Things (2009), Soul of Solomon (2008), Capturing the Signs of God (2008), Holy Mass (2007), Tree of Life (2007), Simulacra the Reality of the Unreal (2007), The Inner Silence of the Tumult (2007), Hid-entity (2007), and Tandava the Dance of Dissolution(2006).
Narges Abyar is an Iranian film director, author, and screenwriter, best known for directing Track 143, Breath, and When the Moon Was Full. The film Track 143 is adapted from Abyar's novel titled The Third Eye narrating the story of a woman and her son during the time of war. Her films sensitively picture the sufferings of women and children caused by the society, war or radicalism.
Brent Edward Huffman is an American director, writer, and cinematographer of documentaries and television programs, including Saving Mes Aynak (2015). His work has been featured on Netflix, Discovery Channel, The National Geographic Channel, VICE, NBC, CNN, PBS, Time, The New York Times, Al Jazeera America and Al Jazeera English and premiered at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), and many other U.S. and international film festivals. He is also a professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University where he teaches documentary production and theory.
