Kabul, Year Zero 

The Official Selection of IDFA Forum 2023

Director Aboozar AMINI  | Producer Jia ZHAO, OH Heejung, Julia NIETHAMMER  | Netherlands, Korea, Germany  | 90min | Delivery Date: April 2025

Project Description

Production Schedule

Synopsis

At age 10, Afshin zigzagged through a world shadowed by suicide bombings and superpower influence. As a son of a national force, he fled Kabul at 16 when the Taliban seized control, only to discover the elusive illusion of safety in his new land. Alongside Shukria, Varja, and Fahad, born in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine, their shared experience, burdened by the gravity of war yet fueled by an unyielding zest for life, weaves a captivating tapestry, beckoning us to witness their existence in a world forged by adult-made conflicts.

Director's Note

As a war child myself, I aim to tell an anti-war story from a child's perspective, depicting their resilience amidst adult-inflicted conflicts. This film delves deeper into Afshin's journey, capturing his joys, dreams, fears, and frustrations amidst displacement from childhood to adolescence. His experiences intertwine with other children from war-torn regions, reflecting the shared bond of fate. Visually, I challenge sticking to a consistent format, incorporating self-filmed footage by the children and varied textures to portray their lives authentically. Through intimate conversations, I explore existential topics and philosophical ideas with the children, allowing them to enlighten adults with their nuanced and detailed experiences. The film is by no means a refugee film, it is a coming-of-age celebration amid adult-created war zones, dedicated to the sheer willpower for life against the gravities of adults' wars, challenging its audience's inner peace.

	Aboozar Amini's debut feature, Kabul, City in the Wind, was an IDFA Opening film and Grand Jury Prize winner. In his next film, Kabul, Year Zero, he aims to delve deeper into the inner world of Afshin as he transitions from childhood to adolescence, encompassing all of his joys, hopes, fears, and growing frustrations.		Jia Zhao is a Chinese-Dutch film producer based in Amsterdam. In 2012, she founded MUYI FILM and co-founded SILK ROAD FILM SALON with Aboozar Amini. In 2021, A Marble Travelogue by Sean Wang was selected for IDFA Frontlight and I’m So Sorry by Zhao Liang for the Cannes film festival. From 2015 to 2019 her works have been shortlisted for the IDFA Competition section five times in a row, with Kabul, City in the Wind being the opening film for the IDFA 2018 and awarded Jury Award for First Appearance Competition. Since 2022 Jia is also the artistic director of Cinemasia film festival in Amsterdam.		Heejung Oh founded Seesaw Pictures in 2017 and has produced creative documentaries and fiction films. Her films have screened at Sundance, Berlinale, IDFA, CPH:DOX, and Hot Docs. She was the first Korean to be selected for the EAVE workshop and has been selected for EAVE, Eurodoc, Rotterdam Lab, and Berlinale Talents.
Director  Aboozar AMINI		Producer  Jia ZHAO		Producer OH Heejung