Acclaimed Afghan filmmakers Sahraa Karimi and Abdul Ahmadi, now living in exile in Europe, are striving to keep their national cinema alive. Karimi was the first woman to lead the state-owned film production company, Afghan Film, and continues to center on strong Afghan women in her work, now more than ever. With a career spanning 50 years, Ahmadi witnessed firsthand how the industry transformed over a half century of changing governments and is racing against time to preserve its history. Worki

"We were making films but we were also inventing our own cinema." #Afghan cinema took off in the 1960s. Watch 'The Forbidden Reel' by Ariel Nasr to learn more about the fearless visionaries behind the nation’s film industry: aje.io/AfghanCinema NFB | Witness - Al Jazeera