(2025, Netherlands, Belgium, 99')
Aboozar Amini takes us into the heart of an Afghanistan scarred by war, occupation, and radicalization. Following the lives of two brothers, the documentary exposes the cracks behind the rhetoric of martyrdom. Samim, 23, is a young Taliban stationed at a Kabul checkpoint, torn between being a soldier, husband, and farmer. Rafi, 14, admires him, but harsh reality quickly steals his childhood innocence. With empathy and without stereotypes, Amini crafts an intimate narrative that reveals hidden humanity amid conflict, in a country suspended between despair and stubborn resilience.
Aboozar Amini (Bamiyan, Afghanistan, 1985) is a director and screenwriter. After graduating from Amsterdam’s Rietveld Art Academy, he won the Dutch Film Fund’s Wildcard Award with Kabul Teheran Kabul (2010). He continued his studies at the London Film School, where he made his graduation film Angelus Novus (2015), premiered at IFFR. In 2018, his short Best Day Ever was selected for Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. That same year, his first feature documentary Kabul, City in the Wind opened IDFA and won the Special Jury Prize for Best Debut.
With Kabul, Between Prayers, Amini returns to his hometown to continue his intimate, stereotype-free portrayal of contemporary Afghanistan.
