“I cannot believe we spent a period like that under the Taliban,” says Roya Sadat, who returned to work in cinema after the Taliban lost power, and is recognised as the first modern female filmmaker in Afghanistan. “It was like a dream. In general, it was very bad, but especially for women.” During the Taliban regime, Sadat worked at a women’s hospital, the only vocation available to women at the time, and held secret theatre performances of her scripts. In 2003, she founded the first independent Afghan film company with her sister, where she today produces TV shows and movies that tackle the long-lasting effects of under-education and religious extremism, especially on women. “Some things have changed for women — we have women active in politics and society. But, the Taliban and fundamentalism is still a part of society. I still fear for my life. The basic right I’m fighting for is the right to exist. We exist, and I’m using cinema and film to send a message to the world that we exist as human beings.”