Hollywoodgate (12A)

★★★★ A remarkable documentary which shadows the Taliban reinstating its medieval caliphate. ~ Irish Independent.

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Unprecedented and audacious, director Ibrahim Nash’at’s Hollywoodgate spends a year inside Afghanistan following the Taliban as they take possession of the cache America left behind—and transform from a fundamentalist militia into a heavily armed military regime.

Hollywoodgate picks up where the rest of the world left off, in the immediate aftermath of the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Days after the last U.S. plane leaves Afghan soil, the Taliban—now in control of the country—enter an American base in Kabul called Hollywood Gate, reputed to have been a secret CIA station.

There they find a portion of the over $7 billion in sophisticated American weaponry left in the country: numerous small arms and munitions, jet fighters, Black Hawk helicopters, and other military equipment.

Much of it is damaged, but the base is also equipped with many of the parts needed to fix it.

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★★★★ A fascinating insight into the Taliban’s insular world, it’s no surprise that Ibrahim Nash’at’s documentary lacks in-depth interviews – his subjects barely tolerate his presence as he reveals the fighters’ lack of purpose after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. ~ The Guardian.

★★★★ What goes unseen? Ordinary Afghans. But then, the film’s sharpest insight is tied up with what is missing from the picture: none of the Taliban want Nash’at to record the actual people they govern. ~ Financial Times.