From 'Osama' to 'Armadillo': 6 movies about the war in Afghanistan that you need to watch

Written By: Pragati Awasthi | Updated: Aug 16, 2021, 11:27 AM IST

Afghanistan is facing a lot of chaos after the US troops withdrawal from the country and now the Taliban on Sunday took over Kabul (the capital and largest city of Afghanistan) followed by the exit of President Ashraf Ghani. 

Over the years, many journalists, photographers and filmmakers have shown the critical situation of the country through cinema. Here, we look at movies that have shown the worrisome situation faced by soldiers and natives of the country. 

Osama

The heartbreaking film made in Afghanistan by Siddiq Barmak, which tells the story from the Afghan perspective. The film follows a preteen girl living in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime who disguises herself as a boy, Osama, to support her family.

(Photograph:Twitter)

The Tillman Story

The award-winning documentary movie by Amir Bar-Lev. The film is about the death of football player turned US  Army Ranger Pat Tillman in the war in Afghanistan, the coverup of the true circumstances of his death, and his family's struggle to unearth the truth. 

(Photograph:Twitter)

The Road to Guantánamo

Helmed by Michael Winterbottom, 'The Road to Guantánamo', the movie is about the incarceration of three British citizens, who were captured in 2001 in Afghanistan and detained by the United States there and for more than two years at the detainment camp in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.

(Photograph:Twitter)

Restrepo

Directed by American journalist Sebastian Junger and British photojournalist Tim Hetherington, the Afghanistan war movie explores the year that Junger and Hetherington spent in Afghanistan on assignment for Vanity Fair, embedded with the Second Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team of the US Army in the Korangal Valley.

(Photograph:Twitter)
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Taxi to the Dark Side

The Oscar-winning documentary concerns the death of Dilawar, an Afghan peanut farmer, who gave up farming to become a taxi driver and who died after several days of beating at the Bagram detention centre.

During the Academy acceptance speech for the 'Best Documentary Feature' Academy Award, director Alex Gibney said:

''This is dedicated to two people who are no longer with us, Dilawar, the young Afghan taxi driver, and my father, a navy interrogator who urged me to make this film because of his fury about what was being done to the rule of law. Let's hope we can turn this country around, move away from the dark side and back to the light.''

(Photograph:Twitter)

Armadillo

In 2010, the Danish documentary 'Armadillo'  made quite a noise at different prestigious award ceremony including Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Janus Metz, the film is bout Danish soldiers in the War in Afghanistan.

(Photograph:Twitter)