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The Prince of Nothingwood (15)

The Prince of Nothingwood

We go behind-the-scenes as Salim Shaheen, Afghanistan’s most prolific actor/director and a force of nature, films his 111th production in the area surrounding Kabul.

Charisma personified, Shaheen has managed to make and self-distribute no fewer than 110 films despite the country's ongoing war and past conflicts.  Keenly aware of the power of performance (he was the only member of his army unit to survive the 1982 Soviet-Afghan war by playing dead among genuine corpses), he uses an outsize confidence to fuel his productions.

When Sonia Kronlund, a radio journalist with 20 years of covering the atrocities of war in Afghanistan under her belt, heard about Shaheen, she saw the chance to tell a positive story for once. Bolstered by a cast of warmly flamboyant characters and Kronlund's thoughtful voiceover, it's an infectious story and a love letter to filmmaking, centred by its exuberant and extraordinary protagonist.

Tagged with: Cinema New releases

France/Germany 2017 Dir Sonia Kronlund 85 min

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