Best Documentaries & Films about Afghanistan

• The Great Game: Afghanistan

  • a two part documentary told by British Afghan Historian- Rory Stewart. A very well produced documentary about Afghanistan’s resistance against foreign super powers- from Britain’s attempt at colonization during the British Raj in India to the Soviet’s invasion during the cold war and the rise of the Taliban. This is a great documentary to understand Afghanistan’s modern history and what led to the rise of the Taliban.

• Afghanistan: Back to the Future

  • a BBC mini documentary about the Afghanistan’s period of hope post ww2 to the Soviet Invasion( early 1950’s- to late 1970’s). It is a collection of historical films documented by American journalist, Glenn Foster. It depicts a time in Afghanistan when there was hope for a bright future with significant investment in infrastructure and opening up to outside world.

• Charlie Wilson’s War

  • A Tom Hank’s movie about Texas Governor Charlie Wilson and his covert operation in Afghanistan during the Cold War. The American’s strategically provided weapons to the Afghan’s to fend off the Soviet Invasion to contain the spread of communism without igniting the Cold War into another World War. This movie is currently on Netflix.

• Spy Ops: Operation Jawbreaker

  • Follows the American CIA mission in Afghanistan in the weeks following 9/11. Gives a good insight on the American allying with the Northern Alliance to take back Kabul from the Taliban. This documentary is currently on Netflix.

• Afghanistan’s Secret Heroin Epidemic

  • A BBC documentary of the Opium trade in Afghanistan. The opium trade has funded the Taliban and left too many Afghans and other central asian populations addicted to heroin. Is it a coincidence that during the peak of the American occupation, America and big pharma were simultaneously promoting the opioid epidemic by over prescribing prescription pain killers to the American public?

• The Road to Kathmandu

  • This documentary follows the Hippie Trail from Istanbul to Kathmandu, a popular overland journey with hippies during the 1970’s. This documentary does not entirely focus on Afghanistan, but it highlights Afghanistan’s burgeoning tourism industry. Afghanistan was a safe place and a popular stop on the Hippie Trail in the 1970’s.

• Leaving Afghanistan

  • This PBS documentary follows Afghan journalist, Najibullah Quraishi on the Taliban’s advance, fears of civil war, and Iran’s growing influence. This documentary focuses more on the Taliban’s new regime in a post American occupied Afghanistan.

• The Fall of Kabul

  • This ABC news documentary follows the fall of Kabul as the American’s called it quits and left Afghanistan. Focuses on stories of those who fled as well as those who were left behind as the the Americans withdrew. Reminds me of the fall of Saigon after the Americans lost the Vietnam war. A harrowing documentary about the last days of the American withdrawal and the horrific scene at the Kabul international airport as the Americans withdrew after a 20+ year occupation.