Afghanistan 1979: The War That Changed the World
War & Peace • 57m
Directed by Gulya Mirzoeva • Documentary • 2014 • 52 minutes
The Soviet troops' intervention in Afghanistan was a pivotal event in the history of the 20th century. It launched Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.
Soviet troops entered Afghanistan in 1979. This was the war that changed the world. Western countries refer to it as 'The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan'. For the Russians it was an operation with a 'limited contingent' of armed forces. Despite its 'limits', the war lasted ten years and played a key role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. It would be the final conflict of the Cold War, and the first in a long war that is far from over.
Reflecting on this particular chapter in contemporary history, we deliberately focus on events from the side of the 'invading' Soviets. Thanks to the release of hitherto secret archives that are tallied with testimonies of protagonists from all sides (Mikhail Gorbachev speaks for the first time on the Afghanistan invasion for example), the film offers an unprecedented reading of history and an understanding of how we have come to such a confrontational standoff between the Muslim and the Western worlds.
"Captivating; documents a conflict that resonates in all of today's hot wars." —Telerama
Up Next in War & Peace
-
Harbour of Hope
Directed by Magnus Gertten • Documentary • With Irene Krausz-Fainman • 2013 • 76 minutes
In Spring 1945 Red Cross liberated thousands of concentration camp survivors and rescued them to the Malmö Harbour, Sweden. Among the thousands of survivors brought to Malmö were Irene Krausz-Fainman, Ewa Ka...
-
A Place Called Wahala
Directed by Jürgen Ellinghaus • Documentary • 2021 • 55 minutes
Every year the War Cemetery Memorial of Wahala / Chra in Togo (West Africa) hosts the 11th November Remembrance Day Ceremony in memory of the First World War and of the African colonial soldiers who died here in August 1914. The fir...
-
Myanmar Diaries
Directed by Myanmar Film Collective • Documentary • 2023 • 70 minutes
MYANMAR DIARIES is comprised of short films by ten young anonymous Burmese filmmakers, combined with emotionally harrowing citizen journalism documenting the junta’s brutality, as well as courageous resistance to it.
The film...
