Kandahar (2001 film)

Kandahar
Directed by	Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Written by	Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Produced by	Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Starring	Nelofer Pazira Sadou Teymouri Hoyatala Hakimi Dawud Salahuddin (Hassan Tantai)
Cinematography	Ebrahim Ghafori
Edited by	Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Music by	Mohammad Reza Darvishi
Distributed by	Avatar Films
Release date	11 May 2001 (2001-May-11) (Cannes)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	Iran
Languages	Dari language English Pashto Polish

Kandahar (Dari: قندهار, "Qandahar") is a 2001 Iranian film directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, set in Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban. Its original Afghan title is Safar-e Ghandehar (سفر قندهار), which means "Journey to Kandahar", and it is alternatively known as The Sun Behind the Moon. The film is based on a partly true, partly fictionalized story of Nafas, a successful Afghan-Canadian woman played by Nelofer Pazira.

The film recounts the attempts of Nafas to return to Afghanistan after receiving a letter from her sister, who was left behind when the family escaped from Afghanistan years earlier. Nafas makes this desperate mission in an effort to rescue her sister, who has written in her letter that she plans to commit suicide on the last solar eclipse of the millennium.

Kandahar was filmed mostly in Iran, including at the Niatak refugee camp,^[1] but also secretly in Afghanistan itself.^[2] Most people, including Nelofer Pazira, played themselves.