Venice-Bound ‘Kabul, Between Prayers’ Acquired for Sales by Mediawan, First-Look Clip Debuts (EXCLUSIVE)

Mediawan Rights has acquired world sales rights to Aboozar Amini’s documentary “Kabul, Between Prayers,” ahead of its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in the Out of Competition section. Variety debuts the first clip from the film here.

The deal with Amini and Jia Zhao’s production company Silk Road Film Salon excludes Netherlands and Belgium. The film is co-produced by Hanne Phlypo at Clin d’Oeil Films in Belgium.

The documentary centers on Samim, 23, a devoted soldier of the Taliban’s ideology that has shaped his destiny since birth, who struggles between the alluring promises of martyrdom and the mundanity of his daily existence as a husband and farmer. Samim’s younger brother, Rafi, 14, idolizes his big brother as he navigates the confusion of adolescence, preparing to leave playfulness behind and enter a world shaped by decades of military intervention and resulting radicalization.

Amini said, “As an artist, my foremost inclination is to transcend the impulse to condemn instead creating a space where observation can delve deeper than what populist politicians dictate. ‘Kabul, Between Prayers’ does not merely depict another faceless Taliban soldier, instead, it strives to engage with him as a human being—shaped by, and reflective of, four decades of international military intervention and resulting radicalization in Afghanistan.”

Zhao said, “Aboozar follows a path of solitary courage and employs an unconventional approach to storytelling, as he seeks to come as close as possible to an individual shaped by war and ideology. I find ‘Kabul, Between Prayers’ to be poetic yet urgent; both an alarm and a chant that challenges viewers to confront the blurred lines between fanaticism and humanity.”

Arianna Castoldi and Kilian Kiefel of Mediawan Rights said, “Aboozar Amini’s filmmaking has a rare sensitivity: He observes rather than explains, allowing us to step into the everyday life of Kabul without filters or judgment. His approach is intimate, poetic, and political all at once – this complexity struck a deep chord with us. ‘Kabul, Between Prayers’ speaks to something essential about fragility, resistance, and what it means to hold on to one’s humanity.”

Phlypo said that Amini’s “subtle cinematic language has completely captivated us.” Phlypo added, “It is his commitment to the individual first in ‘Kabul, Between Prayers’ that caught our attention. At its heart, this is the story of a man who could be our brother, our uncle – someone we know or see every day. Aboozar brings an intimate perspective that feels both deeply personal and universally human, even now as he lives in exile in the Netherlands.”

“Kabul, Between Prayers” follows Amini’s debut “Kabul, City in the Wind,” which opened IDFA in 2018, and won the festival’s special jury prize for first appearance, as well as best film in the Next: Wave section at CPH:DOX.