“This Is A Matter Of Saving The Culture Of Afghanistan”: Decorated Iranian Filmmakers Mohsen & Hana Makhmalbaf Plus Jimmy Mulville Urge UK Government To House Dozens Of Creatives Hunted Down By The Taliban

deadline.com:

“This is a matter of saving the culture of Afghanistan,” Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf said to a parliamentary committee this morning as he pled with the UK government to house dozens of creatives in danger from the Taliban.

Makhmalbaf, a decorated auteur who has been campaigning and helping around 800 Afghani creatives and their families exit the nation for the past three years, appeared in front of the UK’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMSC) alongside his children, filmmakers Hana Makhmalbaf and Maysam Makhmalbaf, and Hat Trick boss Jimmy Mulville, to call on lawmakers to take action.

This came after Hana Makhmalbaf made a documentary feature about the plight of Afghani creatives titled The List, which played at several festivals.

Mohsen Makhmalbaf stressed that accepting Afghani actors, journalists, poets and dancers into the UK would be of net benefit to the nation while simultaneously helping save lives and enrich local culture.