2021 Nominees

Afghanistan. The Wounded Land

Production Company: LOOKSfilm

Produced for: NDR/Arte, Aljazeera Documentary Channel, Ceská televize, Format TV, DR, Knowledge Network, Mediawan Thematics for Toute l’Histoire, NRK, VPRO

Executive Producer (Production Company): Gunnar Dedio

Executive Producer (network/platform): Ulrike Dotzer (NDR/ARTE)

Country or Territory where first released: Germany

Synopsis:

“Afghanistan. The Wounded Land” – narrated by Khaled Hosseini (author of "The Kite Runner") - looks at six decades of Afghan history through the eyes of those who were there: warriors and civilians, men and women.

EP. 1 Kingdom
In the 1960s, Afghanistan was divided between a westernized elite and a traditional, largely poor majority of the population. A communist revolution set these contradictions on fire.

The series begins when Afghanistan was at peace, and his king opened the country to the world. At that time, Kabul looked like a European capital; the best hotels hosted beauty contests and fashion shows. It was a destination for hippies in search of cheap drugs and exotic adventures. But not everybody was comfortable with these changes. The nation was profoundly divided between a westernized elite and the majority of the population, which remained illiterate and poor. When the communists seized power in 1978, all the contradictions exploded and a never-ending war began.