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After escape, Afghan director mourns her ‘lost country’

Women hold a flag of Afghanistan during a gathering in a show of solidarity with women from Afghanistan, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021 in Paris. The Taliban have promised an inclusive government and a more moderate form of Islamic rule than when they last ruled the country from 1996 to 2001. But many Afghans, especially women, are deeply skeptical and fear a rollback of rights gained over the last two decades. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Women hold a flag of Afghanistan during a gathering in a show of solidarity with women from Afghanistan, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021 in Paris. The Taliban have promised an inclusive government and a more moderate form of Islamic rule than when they last ruled the country from 1996 to 2001. But many Afghans, especially women, are deeply skeptical and fear a rollback of rights gained over the last two decades. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Women hold a flag of Afghanistan during a gathering in a show of solidarity with women from Afghanistan, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021 in Paris. The Taliban have promised an inclusive government and a more moderate form of Islamic rule than when they last ruled the country from 1996 to 2001. But many Afghans, especially women, are deeply skeptical and fear a rollback of rights gained over the last two decades. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

By ANGELA CHARLTON and ALEX TURNBULL / Associated Press 4 min read

PARIS (AP) – As a filmmaker, Shahrbanoo Sadat watched with fascination as Taliban fighters took over her city and terrified crowds animated the streets. But as an Afghan woman, she also watched the scene through another prism and knew: It was time to flee.

After her family’s harrowing escape from Kabul, Sadat is now warning world governments: “The Taliban is a terrorist group and the world should realize they are dangerous,” she told The Associated Press in Paris on Sunday.

“I’m losing my belief in democracy, in human rights, in women’s rights,” she said, because she feels that Western countries aren’t doing enough to defend these things in Afghanistan.

Sadat, whose first film “Wolf and Sheep” won an award linked to the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and nine family members were among thousands of Afghans brought out by foreign governments before the last U.S. troops pulled out last week.

They spent 72 hours in line at the Kabul airport, fighting to get out. The first night, Afghan troops “were very aggressive, shooting from 6 p.m. until 10 a.m. We couldn’t go forward, even a few meters.” So the family tried another gate.