As part of the D.C. Francophonie Cultural Festival 2020, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy present a free screening of The Swallows of Kabul.
The Swallow of Kabul follows the story of two couples during the Summer 1998. In 1998, Kabul in ruins is occupied by the Taliban. Mohsen (voiced by Swann Arlaud) and Zunaira (voiced by Zita Hanrot) are still young and in love. They remain hopeful that they will once again be able to live as they choose in their beloved country. In contrast, the despair-filled prison warden Atiq and his terminally-ill wife Mussarat live as if they are already dead. They have been married for many years and are hardly ever talking to each other. A foolish act of Mohsen will tip the fate of his couple into tragedy. .
Graphically rich, 2D watercolor-style animation The Swallows Of Kabul provides an involving adaptation of the Algerian writer Yasmina Khadra’s literary fiction. The movie is a moving testimony of life under Taliban control in the Afghan capital, highlighting a dangerous act of humanity during a violent time via the stories of those two couples whose fates become intertwined through death, imprisonment and self-sacrifice.
The Swallows of Kabul was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and won the best film award at the 2019 Angoulême Francophone Film Festival. The film was also nominated at the Annecy’s International Film Festival of Animated Movies in 2019.
The Swallows of Kabul / Les Hirondelles de Kaboul
By Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec
2019 - France/Switzerland/Luxembourg - 81 min.
In French with English subtitles.