TALIBAN PALACE: THE SECOND YEAR OF TALIBAN RULE IN AFGHANISTAN

Tue 15 August 2023:

Rare behind-the-scenes access to the Taliban spokesman as local Afghans confront him about the failed economy and broken promises of women’s and minority rights.

With unprecedented access from Kandahar to Kabul, the Taliban’s main spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid opens the doors to the presidential palace. He takes us to the centre of the Taliban’s transition from rebel fighters to the nation’s leaders.

Charged with orders from the Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhunzada, Mujahid faces the stresses that come with governing a divided and traumatised country of 40 million people. In Afghanistan, human rights are under attack and the economy is crumbling.

Powerful businessmen, bold Hazara leaders and a fearless woman activist confront Mujahid about the Taliban’s many unfulfilled promises. He knows the stakes are high for an administration which is not formally recognised by the rest of the world.

Taliban Palace is a documentary film by Michael Healy and Najibullah Quraishi.