Dubai-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region distribution rights to Ibrahim Nash’at’s doc “Hollywoodgate” on the takeover of a former U.S. military base in Kabul during the first year after the American withdrawal.
The potent doc – which premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival and launched into the Middle East from the Amman International Film Festival earlier this month – will now be getting special screenings across alternative cinema circuits in the MENA region.
These screenings will possibly take place on Aug. 30, 2024, which marks the three-year anniversary of the day the U.S. Armed Forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan. However a Front Row said this tentative plan for the Middle East “Hollywoodgate” theatrical release has not been fully confirmed.
As Variety’s Christopher Vourlias put it in his Venice interview with Nash’at, “When the last American transport plane left the tarmac at Kabul’s international airport in August 2021, ending a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and marking an unceremonious conclusion to what had been known as the ‘forever war,’ the U.S. left more than unfulfilled promises and unanswered questions in its wake: Also left behind was more than $7 billion in military equipment, now in the hands of an Islamist government that rose to power not at the ballot box, but at the barrel of a gun.”
Nash’at, who is an Egyptian journalist, gained unprecedented access to follow the Taliban as the new head of Afghanistan’s air force, Mawlawi Mansour — a Taliban whose father was killed by the Americans — ordered his soldiers to inventory everything and repair everything they could. Over the course of a year, “Hollywoodgate” provides an eye-opening depiction of the mutation of a fundamentalist militia into a military regime.
“We believe that “Hollywoodgate” is a crucial documentary that sheds light on the ongoing struggles within Afghanistan,” said Front Row chief Gianluca Chakra in a statement.
“It is our responsibility to bring socially conscious films to the forefront, and “Hollywoodgate” provides an essential perspective on the complex realities faced by the Afghan people. This film aligns with our mission to support and distribute thought-provoking and impactful cinema across the MENA region,” he added.
Commented Nash’at: “My hope is that for the first time, ‘Hollywoodgate’ can expose the Taliban from the inside out and help bring attention back to the plight of the Afghan people.”
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