Past screening

A Flickering Truth

Directed by: Pietra Brettkelly
Runtime: 1hr 31min Year: 2015
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Details

Directed by: Pietra Brettkelly
Runtime: 1hr 31min Year: 2015
Country: New Zealand, Afghanistan
Last Screened: Thu 12th May 2016

As Afghanistan teeters on the edge of an unpredictable future, A Flickering Truth unwraps the world of three dreamers, the dust of 100 years of war and the restoration of 8000 hours of film archive.

Afghanistan’s rich film history might well have been lost forever, if not for the brave custodians revealed in this doc, who risked their lives to conceal films from the Taliban regime. The journey through thousands of hours of dusty film reels yields new surprises every day.

Watching rediscovered material sparks youthful recollections among the archive staff – of the films they saw or made, and of the society they have lost. As the caretakers thread old projectors with film from unmarked reels, the country’s history comes alive with images of former leaders, beloved actresses, and landmarks that have since been destroyed.

A Flickering Truth is a testament to the urgency and necessity of film preservation.