BASA Film (Bashgahe Cinema, meaning Afghanistan Cinema Club) is a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that promotes

cultural development Sociocultural evolution, sociocultural evolutionism or social evolution are theories of sociobiology and cultural evolution that describe how societies and culture change over time. Whereas sociocultural development traces processes that tend ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

. It is made up of artists and cultural activists from Afghanistan, and some voluntary artists from around the world, including skilled professionals in

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

photography Photography is the visual art, art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It i ...

and graphic design. The organization’s major activities include producing documentary and

narrative film Narrative film, fictional film or fiction film is a motion picture that tells a fictional or fictionalized story, event or narrative. Commercial narrative films with running times of over an hour are often referred to as feature films, or feature ...

s; launching and providing film training courses; organizing public screenings for special audiences; supporting foreign production teams inside Afghanistan; sending artists' work to international festivals; and organizing large cultural events in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Ac ...

, such as

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending up ...

s. Documentary films produced by BASA, such as ''Pamir Territory'' (2003), ''Drought in Hazarajat'' (2003), and ''The End of the Earth'' (2001) have won international awards and been screened worldwide at prestigious festivals. BASA has produced several films about women’s rights in Afghanistan. The film ''25 Percent'' (2007) depicts female members of the

Afghan parliament The Leadership Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also translated as the Supreme Council, () (also referred to as the Inner Shura) is the central governing body of the Taliban and Afghanistan. The Taliban uses a consensus decision-maki ...

and their struggles to gain rights, recognition and respect in the male-dominated environment of the

Wolesi Jirga The House of Representatives of the People, or Da Afghanistan Wolesi Jirga ( ps, دَ افغانستان ولسي جرګه), was the lower house of the bicameral National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, alongside the upper Ho ...

. ''Mohtarama'' (2012) tells the story of the grassroots women’s movement in

, and two other east and west provinces of Afghanistan. These films have been screened for members of the British, Norwegian and Swedish parliaments, as well as at universities in the United States (

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

In October 2011, with the support of various national and international organizations, BASA organized first edition of The Afghanistan International Human Rights Film Festival, the first human rights film festival to be held in Kabul. The festival serves as a hub for artists and filmmakers dealing with issues of censorship, war and other human rights abuses. It aims to encourage filmmakers to use their cameras to document struggles against discrimination, injustice and violence. In October 2013, BASA will host the second Autumn Human Rights Film Festival.

Projects

* Organizing the Second Take Film Festival in Kabul * Organizer of Kabul Film Festival * Publishing of monthly art magazine ''theme'' * Organizer of Afghanistan Human Rights Film Festival

Members

* Malek Shafi'i

References

External links

Afghanistan Cinema ClubAfghanistan International Human Rights Film FestivalAfghanistan Cultural Profiles
Cinema of Afghanistan Film societies {{film-org-stub