Prominent Afghan director Roya Sadat, whose latest film “Sima Song” is participating in the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, denounced being denied entry to the Kingdom to screen the film, despite obtaining a Saudi visa.
Sadat in an email to diverse, She said that she was scheduled to travel to Jeddah, the Saudi city located on the eastern shore of the Red Sea where the festival is held, on December 3 to participate and present her film. She added: “But I was prevented from boarding the plane because Saudi Arabia does not accept Afghan passports that were renewed after the Taliban returned to power.”
Sadat continued: “This raises a key question: If such passports are not accepted, why issue visas in the first place?” Was the visa granted only to be later rejected? Despite repeated calls to Jeddah, I was eventually not allowed to travel.
Representatives of the Red Sea Film Festival did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation and comment.
In a later email, Sadat said she was extremely frustrated by two issues in this seemingly ridiculous situation. “First, they (the Saudi authorities) refused to respect the visa they had issued themselves,” she said.
Sadat continued: “Secondly, the hypocrisy is blatant. “The Taliban, who hold the same passports as I and millions of other Afghans, do not face such restrictions,” she added.
Sadat pointed out that the current Taliban Interior Minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, a terrorist listed by the United States with a $10 million bounty on his head, recently visited Saudi Arabia, and specifically traveled to Jeddah and the Holy Kaaba in the Holy City of Mecca, which is The most important Islamic places in Islam. An important mosque for Hajj.
Sadat denounced, “He was allowed to enter because he is a terrorist and I am an artist.”
Sadat, who now resides in the United States, added: “I thought about withdrawing my film from the festival in protest against this policy.” She added: “But out of respect for the actors and the producer, who had already arrived in Jeddah, I decided to leave it.”
“Sima’s Song,” which tells the story of a wealthy communist and a poor Muslim woman as they navigate the country’s socialist transformation during the Soviet invasion and the rise of anti-Soviet resistance movements, premiered at the Tokyo Film Festival last month.
As a pioneering figure in Afghan cinema, Sadat’s career spans the turbulent evolution of filmmaking in her homeland, starting with writing her first screenplay during the initial Taliban regime—when screening films could lead to public flogging—to becoming one of Afghanistan’s most prominent directors.
Naman Ramachandran contributed to this report