I saw yesterday Zelensky is in the news of a channel. I don’t remember which one. I was compulsively zapping. But I swear to you they’re focused Zelenskiyand they even said something about what the Army was like. Putin’s Murders continue in Ukraine. This was a rare occurrence. Little is said about Ukraine on television today. We already know what will happen. A war is news until a newer war covers it up.
If watching Ukraine on television has already become almost an oddity, what is truly rare is finding any news that focuses on what is happening in Afghanistan. This country made news in the summer of 2021 when Western powers (mainly the United States) abandoned it, leaving its residents in the hands of the Taliban once again. This television interest lasted several weeks. Afterwards, almost no network remembers Afghanistan today. Reporter, documentary producer and film director Marcel Mettelsiefen He is one of the few people who still remembers.
Movistar Plus+ recently released the documentary ‘Sons of the Taliban’. A look at Cain searching for the boys and girls of that poor and ruined city. And in this search, Mettelsiefen He found a contradiction. Two 9-year-old girls are working on the street shining shoes. They earn very little money coming into their homes to avoid literally starving. His father is no longer there; The Taliban tortured him. His mother does not work; Women are prohibited from working. So all that’s left for the girls is to find bread. But they still maintain hope: They dream loudly of a free future in front of the cameras.
Also present were two 8-year-old boys, one the son of a local Taliban chief and the other his secretary. It’s a different life they live. They don’t suffer like girls. They can especially receive education in ‘madrasa’ where they memorize the Quran. “If you memorize the Quran, you will understand suicide attacks and you will not question it when they ask you to do it.” The son of the Taliban says. He also expresses his hope for the future as follows: “I want to be a mujahid when I grow up” Meticulously cleaning Kalashnikov and his father’s gun.
MettelsiefeN has another work about Afghanistan titled ‘In Their Hands’, which was recently released on Netflix. His persistence is admirable. It contrasts with the indifference of mainstream television. He deserves the audience to follow him. At least not to forget.