ISTANBUL — As Afghanistan’s film industry struggles under Taliban restrictions, an Afghan woman has helped organize an international short film festival for students in Turkey, offering a rare cultural platform far from home.
The International Student Short Film Festival, concluded on Saturday, was coordinated by a diverse team of young organizers, including Vega Moqarabi, an Afghan national who served as the festival’s program coordinator. The event featured 29 finalist films selected from more than 450 submissions across multiple countries. Six of the finalists received jury prizes.
In a statement sent to Amu, the organizers described the festival as an initiative designed to provide a creative outlet for international students in Turkey, a country that hosts one of the world’s largest populations of foreign students.
“With opportunities to be heard, to be seen, and to connect, this festival offers fertile ground for artistic and cultural growth,” the statement read.
The event was supported by the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), a Turkish government agency that promotes cross-cultural engagement.
The festival also featured a special showcase of four student films created during workshops held earlier this year at the Turkish Cinema Academy.
While the Taliban have restricted public screenings and cinematic work inside Afghanistan, the Istanbul festival has grown into an important space for displaced or diaspora Afghans seeking to stay connected with the arts.
Moqarabi, in public remarks during the event, said she hopes the festival helps present a different image of Afghan people — one rooted not in conflict, but in creativity and resilience. “I am very happy when people talk about Afghanistan not just in terms of war, but in terms of cinema and art,” she said.
Now in its third year, the festival continues to draw participants from across the globe. In the previous edition, films from the United States, Germany, and Turkey received top honors.
For Afghan participants, the event represents both a professional milestone and a poignant contrast to life under the Taliban, where institutions like Afghan Film — once the country’s state-run cinema authority — have faded into silence.
As one student filmmaker put it during the event: “This space gives us the chance to dream again — and to be heard.”
