Kabul Chaos (F/F)

Dir. David Perrisère, Thomas Brémond, Nils Montel & Myriam Weil | Afghanistan | 78 min | 2024

On August 15th, 2021, the capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul, fell to the Taliban. In a gripping and evocative documentary, Kabul Chaos captures the historic collapse of the Afghan government to Taliban insurgents and the urgent evacuation of civilians trapped inside the French embassy during the critical hours that followed. Filmed over the course of three years, the film follows David Martinon, the former French Ambassador to Afghanistan, as he reflects on the key events that led to the fall, including the U.S-Taliban Doha Agreement negotiated without the inclusion of Afghan representatives, the withdrawal of American troops, and the failure of international efforts to support a legitimate Afghan government despite billions in aid. Through first hand testimonies from Afghan civilians, foreign diplomats, journalists, and artists, as well as footage captured during the fall, Kabul Chaos delivers a powerful, unflinching critique of the complex political landscape and the devastating cost of foreign intervention ultimately paid by the people of Afghanistan.