Screening + Q&A: The Takeover
How Afghan Women Are Standing Up to the Taliban
In the documentary “The Takeover” we see the Taliban depriving Afghan women of their basic rights. The documentary reveals how the Taliban rules Afghanistan with threats and violence and creates a fundamentalistic state where women are treated as second-class citizens. Through close-up recordings the documentary tells the story of women who are risking everything to stand up to Taliban and fight for their rights. In addition, we meet women supporting the Taliban and see how also their freedom of speech and movement are restricted.
Filmed over a whole year, the film chronicles how determined the Taliban is at reshaping the Afghan society in line with their ideology. Step by step they are removing women’s rights, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right of assembly and other human rights. The documentary manifests the strength and courage of the women who are keeping their hopes for a better future by protesting the Taliban.
The documentary also shows how the leaders of the Taliban are trying to improve their image abroad. Through lies and misinformation they want to obtain diplomatic relations, trade agreements and humanitarian aid. The Taliban is defining all new laws and regulations as domestic affairs in Afghanistan and does not accept criticism from other countries.
How Afghan Women Are Standing Up to the Taliban
In the documentary “The Takeover” we see the Taliban depriving Afghan women of their basic rights. The documentary reveals how the Taliban rules Afghanistan with threats and violence and creates a fundamentalistic state where women are treated as second-class citizens. Through close-up recordings the documentary tells the story of women who are risking everything to stand up to Taliban and fight for their rights. In addition, we meet women supporting the Taliban and see how also their freedom of speech and movement are restricted.
Filmed over a whole year, the film chronicles how determined the Taliban is at reshaping the Afghan society in line with their ideology. Step by step they are removing women’s rights, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right of assembly and other human rights. The documentary manifests the strength and courage of the women who are keeping their hopes for a better future by protesting the Taliban.
The documentary also shows how the leaders of the Taliban are trying to improve their image abroad. Through lies and misinformation they want to obtain diplomatic relations, trade agreements and humanitarian aid. The Taliban is defining all new laws and regulations as domestic affairs in Afghanistan and does not accept criticism from other countries.
Anders Hammer is a Norwegian documentary filmmaker and writer. He filmed and directed the documentary “Do Not Split” about the Hong Kong protests. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject at the 93rd Academy Awards. He directed “The Takeover” about life under Taliban in Afghanistan. It won the Grand Jury Award for the International Short Film Competition at Sheffield DocFest and was Emmy-nominated in the category for Outstanding Short Documentary in 2024. He also directed and produced “Escape from Syria: Rania’s Odyssey”, which was published by The Guardian and won a Webby Award and a One World Media Award for Best Refugee Reporting in 2018.
Fereshta Abbasi is a Researcher in the Asia division at Human Rights Watch, focusing on research and documentation of ongoing abuses in Afghanistan. For the past 10 years she has documented human rights abuses in Afghanistan with different organizations, including Human Rights Watch and the All-Survivors Project. She was previously a legal advisor for the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), where she trained and developed employees’ legal skills within the Afghan justice sector. She holds an LLM in International law and Strategic Studies from University of Aberdeen and was a Chevening Scholar in 2019-2020. Fereshta has also published on human rights issues in the Afghan media.