World Cinema Day celebrated in Balkh

Balkh Information and Culture Department celebrated World Cinema Day in presence of provincial filmmakers.
Mohammad Sadiq Sarmastzada, General Manager of Arts at Information and Culture Department of Balkh, said in a conference commemorating World Cinema Day that although the international community poured large sums of money into Afghanistan, little attention was paid to culture and cinema.
Sarmastzada considers insecurity to be an obstacle to the growth and development of the country’s filmmaking industry, adding that Afghan filmmakers had joint ventures with German and Iranian artists in the past. But now according to him, producers are trapped in cities due to insecurity and COVID-19 while districts have aesthetic places for film production.
Balkh filmmakers also expressed their discomfort, saying that only 30 percent of the people supported them while others made dishonest judgments about them.
They accused the government of ignoring cinema and added that they have been raising their voices for years to have a movie theater, but the government has not yet heeded their request.
It is worth mentioning that Mati-ur Rahman Karimi, Head of Information and Culture Department in Balkh, acknowledges the problems of the filmmakers and states that efforts are underway to build a movie theatre in Balkh.
Reporter: Mahnaz Mowzon