Established in 2012, the Police Film Festival brings together police themed short-films for a dynamic look at law and order in our societies. .

The festival will begin Wednesday, May 16 with 5 days of screenings, discussion panels and Q&As with directors.

Sixteen police themed short films by award-winning Afghan filmmakers are competing in the categories of documentary, animation and narrative. Between screenings festivalgoers are invited to participate in a series of televised discussions and debates with filmmakers, civil rights activists and police leaders; becoming a space for thought, reflection and dialogue.


FINDING ZALMAY
FICTION
Release Year: 2012
Runtime: 13 Minutes
Directed by: Hasib Nabizadah
Ashes and a solitary letter are all that remain of three years of post from the last postman. The new postman dedicates himself to delivering the salvaged letter, addressed to Zalmay. He traces Zalmay from police post to police post in what becomes a "Saving Private Ryan" mission.  Director Nabizadah gives ample tribute to the beauty of the landscape and the isolated existence of people in the sporadic villages and police posts that the postman encounters.

BURNING DAYS OF TORKHAM
FICTION
Reease Year: 2012
Runtime: 30 Minutes
Directed by: Aziz Dildar
Hot Days of Torkham deals with the subject of police attrition in Afghanistan. In Aziz Dildar’s highly stylized film journey, two police recruits abandon their post and sell their weapons. Their return home through Afghanistan’s majestic landscape is juxtaposed by the poverty, death and kidnapping that they witness. The regret and sense of duty eats away at one of the men and forces them both to account for their wrongdoing.

COPS AND ROBBERS
FICTION
Release Year: 2012
Runtime: 7 Minutes
Directed by: Sayed Hussein Mousavi
Miriam was never one to stay home and watch dolefully out the window as the boys played. She and her best childhood friend devise ways to join in on the boys cops and robbers games, that lead to her becoming a policewoman years later.

8 SEEN (AN EXTRA GIFT)
FICTION
Release Year: 2012
Runtime: 11 Minutes
Directed by: Fareed Ahmad Tahiri
A street child on the streets of Mazar spends his days polishing boots outside a corner shop. He sees the local policeman extort money from taxi drivers and take pay-offs from local business owners. An interaction between the policeman and the boy sees the child act as the man’s conscience and condemn him for taking what’s not rightfully his.

NEARBY
FICTION
Release Year: 2012
Runtime: 13 Minutes
Directed by: Nooragha Husseinian
Two lost children band together to find their way home.  The 6-year old daughter of a policeman and the 6-year old son of a local shopkeeper form an unlikely friendship as they wander along the streets of Kabul.


SABOOR: KABUL’S “UNCLE TRAFFIC”
DOCUMENTARY
Release Year: 2012
Runtime: 8 Minutes
Directed by: Sultan Mahmoud
This is the story of Saboor, Kabul’s most well-loved traffic policeman, how he came to be an entire city’s “Uncle Traffic” and his 16-year attempt to claim land which was promised to him by a regime that has since come and gone.

SOLITUDE
ANIMATION
Release Year: 2012
Runtime: 3 Minutes
Directed by: Saeed Mohsen
Solitude is a wild-west time lapse of a lone police ranger. It captures the endless sunrises, sunsets and final thoughts of a fallen hero.

CHECKPOINT
DOCUMENTARY
Release Year: 2011
Runtime: 27 Minutes
Directed by: Hamed Alizadeh
15 policemen inspect all the cars that enter Dehbori district. Brought from their villages to the overpopulated Kabul cityscape, these 15 policemen live confined together in 3 green metal living containers. Support is limited and communication from command is rare, but as we follow them at their daily ring-of-steel checkpoint, we see how they develop a natural code to protect the community where they are strangers and yet bound to protect.

THE PROPOSAL
FICTION
Release Year: 2012
Runtime: 19 Minutes
Directed by: Mohammad Husseini
The Proposal follows the dialogue of travelers on a bus as an older woman praises her police sons virtues to a beautiful young girl. Who wouldn’t want to marry a policeman? The dialogue, comedic at times, continues with everyone’s own police experiences when suddenly the bus is stopped at gun-point and the passengers are victims of highway robbery.

COLD MOUNTAIN
DOCUMENTARY
Release Year: 2012
Runtime: 20 Minutes
Directed by: Sayed Qasem Husseini
In the dead of winter, Salang embodies snow filled treachery where avalanches are a common occurrence and road accidents are the leading cause of death. Cold Mountain follows the local police in Salang and shows the rigours of police work in this environment. Through interviews with travelers and local inhabitants the film is able to show the important relationship that has developed between the Salang police force and community.

WHITE LINE
ANIMATION
Release Year: 2012
Runtime: 3 Minutes
Directed by: Ali Reza Sajjadi
Sajjadi’s 3D animation turns the simple act of crossing the road into a perilous adventure. A sharply dressed white gloved policeman makes safe passage for the overwhelmed pedestrian.

MONSTER
ANIMATION
Release Year: 2012
Runtime: 2 Minutes
Directed by: Mohammad Arif Abedian
A group of naughty boys wreack havoc with their water pistols as as they spray a kind old woman in the face. Their watery antics are put to a halt when a policeman restores order and helps the old woman to her feet.

SAVED
ANIMATION
Release Year: 2012
Runtime: 4 Minutes
Directed by: Mehdi Bakhtiari
An action packed animation of a child alone and afraid against the night. A looming figure comes to his rescue and reveals himself as the child’s protector until the sunrise brings safety and the sound of chirping birds.

NAJMAOLDIN
DOCUMENTARY
Release Year: 2012
Runtime: 18 Minutes
Directed by: Ahmad Siyar Noorzad
Najmaoldin is an Uzbek police officer who came from the north to take the role of Police Chief in Logar province. Ethnic and language difference were obvious barriers, however Najmaoldin has embraced the local culture and language and won the support of the local community for the police. In this short-documentary, Noorzad gives viewers a rare glimpse into the day of an Afghan police chief.



for more info: http://www.policefilmfest.com/#!english